Path of the Assassin
by ArticPath
Summary: I was given the task to kill a certain man, I don’t know why or how. I have found others like me who have taught me. The first lesson, any ninja can hide in the shadows but only an assassin can hide in plain sight.
1. Though Death Comes Rebirth

Path of the Assassin-a mostly Naruto Fanfiction

By

Gunslinger1555

I do not own Naruto or Assassins Creed

* * *

Every breath was a struggle for the injured youth. At the age of ten Naruto Uzumaki was dying, and for the life of him he couldn't imagine why. He had been beaten before and would always wake up the next day with no visible injures, and yet he was dying. What did these men do to him?

Looking off to his right was an action that took most of his remaining strength. Ten shadows stood upon a giant chained statue with nine eyes. Three eyes of the nine were open, two on the outer circle of eight and the one eye in the center that glowed with an eerie red glow.

Looking back up towards the ceiling of the cave they had brought him he couldn't help feel cheated. His life was horrible, he knew this, and this was how he would leave the world that hated him? Cold, tired and empty. That is how Naruto felt as his eyes closed and his breathing stopped completely.

Pein saw the Kyuubi host had died and allowed his chakra output to fall starting a chain reaction throughout the people gathered and the statue they stood on. The three open eyes of the statue closed perfectly containing the power of the three tailed beasts they had captured. Jumping off from his perch he sent a pulse of chakra to the statue which started to sink into ground like quicksand until no evidence of it being in the cave was left.

He turned towards the group of assembled people and caught the eye of Madara Uchiha. While he may have wanted the man to stay more low key in the operation to extract the nine tailed beast Akatsuki needed a team of ten full members and as it stood they only had nine, they would have waited for many years if Madara hadn't offered up to aid them. He had both secured and brought the boy to this cave where every member was waiting, in person, to begin the extraction.

"So the strongest of the demons is captured what next?" asked one of the members.

"We do as we originally planned. Most of us will continue to take the missions handed out to use by the shinobi villages. Hiden and Kakuzu will wonder around and gather up bounties. Lastly Zetsu will located the tailed demons and their containers and will update me from time to time."

"You mean I still got to do missions? Why can't I go after the beasts? If their all like I won't even need my art."

"Don't get cocky." Stepping over the dead boy Madara showed no emotion as he stared at the body. "This boy may have held the strongest of the beasts but he was the easiest to catch. The rest of our targets are well trained or protected. I know for a fact the container of the eight tails is stronger than most of us without the demon. With it he could probably take on Pein if he needed. And if that wasn't bad enough he had the two tails under his tutelage. Fighting both at the same time would just be foolish."

"So when do we go after the tailed demons if they are so well protected?" Spoke a calm deadpan voice.

Pein answered before Madara could. "No matter which village has them they will all be sent out on missions eventually. If we are lucky some may even be thrown out of their villages once word gets out that a group composed of S rank criminals is out for their heads. The needs of many over the needs of one, a philosophy that many of the villages belief to be true, so when man's desperation for survival kicks in we will be there to get those unlucky souls. Regardless let's get a move on. Just because no one knows were here doesn't mean that they can't stumble in on us."

In groups of two most of the members left the confides of the cave until just Madara, Pein, and Konan were left in the area with the body of the boy. "Will the village come looking for the body?" asked Pein directed at Madara.

"No."

"Fine then we'll leave it here. We don't plan on every using this area again anyhow. Come Konan." With that Pein followed the example of the other members of the Akatsuki. Konan pulled a white paper flow from one of the fold of her robe and placed on the boy before following Pein. She was stopped before she could cross the threshold.

"Showing sorrow for your enemies isn't a good habit you know. It could end up costing you your life."

Gazing back at the Uchiha Konon spoke in a quite soft voice. "This world brings only death and sorrow. It is usually the children who suffer most. This boy is no different from Pein-sama and me when we grew up. If what you say is true and that no one in that village will come looking for or miss this child then I will. I will feel sorrow for the life I have helped in destroying. Good day Madara-sama."

Watching the blue haired woman leave he muttered something like "Sorrow? Do you really think you know the true meaning of that word or how deeply it affects some of us?" Waiting some time for the members of Akatsuki to move far enough away he turned to a normal looking wall and spoke. "Their gone now. It does you and your people no good to hide from me seeing as I knew you were there the whole time. There isn't anything that my Sharingan doesn't see."

Clapping could be heard as a man dressed in white dropped whatever technique he was using. He had a hood on that covered the man's eyes in shadows and only showed his nose and jaw. His white coat had red and white stitching along it giving the man a very distinct look. Soon other followed until he was surrounded by twenty of the figures in white. Their clothing all looked similar in style and color but each had little differences that set them apart. The one clapping took another step forward and spoke. "You're a sneaky one aren't cha?

"Enough, time is short. You all wear the white robes of an active assassin where is your leader in black."

The same man as before moved his arms and head into a thinking position before turning to the man at his right. "Hey do you know where the master is?"

Hearing the man's response of "No" Madara was getting upset at the people around him but before he could act on his anger a voice spoke from beside and below him. "Question that is enough. Be quite before I take your tongue and make you quite."

The man in black robes that looked regal in appearance stood up from inspecting the child and looked Madara in the eyes. "I can't help but interested about this situation. You perform an act that kills all who undergo it and you stand there and channel chakra into the boy to keep him alive. Then you call upon me personally to come before you. If nothing else you have my attention."

"I want you to take the boy, induct him into your ways, and train him."

"And why would we do that? He fits none of the criteria that we look for in disciples. He is too old, has been in normal society for too long."

"Because he was a jinchuriki. For ten years he had a force of nature stuck into his body. Not only that but the seal that was placed on him forced the beasts energy into his own. He could be trained to harness the energy the way you and your people do and maybe have the ability to control more than any before him."

The black clad figure looked at the boy again before asking one more question. "Why do you want this so bad? If he remembers any of this he is going to be determined to strike back at your organization."

"I care very little for this organization. I have lived a long life and crave only one thing at this point and time."

"And that is?"

"Excitement. I have no foreseeable end. Time will not end me and no average opponent can either. I want you to train the boy so that eventually he will be able to compete with me. Do you have any idea how disappointed I was when is saw the Kyuubi container as weak if not weaker than an average child. I no longer have any faith in the jinchurikis. So now I will help create an enemy strong enough to give me challenge."

"Fine, but while you may not care for your gathering or it's goal I do. In return I want…"

"Agreed, you may have it once the boy has defeated me."

"Alright then. Question get over here and start pumping the boy with energy, and don't stop until he's full got that."

The man ran up to the boy and laid his hands over the boys gut. "Of course, just who do you think I am?" Looking in-between the man's hands and boys gut the air began to haze and distort. While the energy that they used didn't have a distinct look like chakra did it greatly affect the world around them. Slowly the boy's eyes focused on Madara's.

"Grow strong boy if you ever hope to kill me. " And with that the boy lost consciousness.

Finally after a half hour Question finished his task. "Just how large are this kids reserves? For new people to process shouldn't it take less than ten minutes?"

"It would appear that we did the right thing in agree to train the boy don't you agree Question?"

"Why ask me?"

"Because you are going to be training the boy in the basics of course. Now come on, we best get back home before too long."

* * *

Blue eyes focused on the figure in front of him. A fellow student that was going to put everything he knew into this next fight. Naruto could understand. They were both at that age where if they didn't show skill and talent they could be removed from the village they currently resided in. It wouldn't be so bad except that the only way to leave the village was though purifying fire and directly into Kami's embrace. So while his opponent was fighting with all his skill Naruto would be doing the same. At the age of thirteen he would have to perform his first act of murder.

Both boys circled around each other matching each other's pacing. Naruto grabbed his dagger from the sheath tied to his waist and raised it in front of him pointed straight at the other boy. The other boy got into a defensive position hold his long sword diagonally in-between himself and Naruto. Naruto narrowed his eyes and charged.

Naruto thrust the small blade forward going for the boys gut only to feel his dagger get pushed off to the side. Following the motion Naruto spun and raised his dagger hold on to it with two hands he blocked the overhead strike that had been about to connect. Keeping contact between the two blades Naruto ran forward into striking range of his target and brought the dagger back down to slash at the boy only to feel a fist hit him in the face.

Falling to the ground Naruto rolled onto his side and kicked at charging boy hoping to at least get a moment reprieve to think up a plan. It worked; the charging boy received a kick into his stomach and was tossed a meter back losing his sword in the process. Getting back on his feet Naruto charged his fallen opponent and slammed his blade down onto his opponent, or would have if the boy not rolled at the last second. Naruto growled in frustration and went to grab his dagger only to realize that the blade wouldn't budge. Standing up he saw the other boy pick up his sword and swing it around himself with flourish. Seeing the smirk his opponent had really pissed him off.

'So he thinks he's won already. He's fallen into the number one pitfall and it would be foolish of me not to take him up on his offer.' The boy with the sword charged once more dragging the tip behind him on the ground as he got closer and closer. Waiting until the saw the boys arms begin their ascent he did a quick hop backwards just avoiding the blade and step back into range as he caught the boys arm and the handle of the sword. Elbowing the youth he ripped the sword from his hand and proceeds to swing at the now defenseless boy. Swinging again and again Naruto put his all into one swing and pushed himself off balance which the boy used to his advantage to trip him up and knee him in the gut, followed quickly by a backhanded fist to the face Naruto staggered a few steps back, sword still in hand.

The boy, seeing Naruto still off balance from the strike, reached into his coat and pulled out three throwing knives and tossed all after a second pause between each one. Naruto only had time to grab two of his own knives and hit two of the flying knives mid flight. The third knife Naruto blocked using the sword and realized his error in time to see his opponent slip into his space like he had tried to do at the beginning of the match only with much more success. A hit to his arm and Naruto released the sword and got a extra round house kick in the jaw.

Not feeling any more blows coming towards him he assumed that his adversary must be off retrieving his sword and would have stood up if his vision wasn't so blurry. Staying in place for a second his disorientation vanished and he saw a sword coming towards him. Groping for anything on the ground to help him he felt the familiar handle of his dagger still stuck in the ground. Pulling himself by the dagger he flip over it just as the blade nicked his head as he was mid flip. The sword continued downward and dug into the ground creating cracks that spread over to where Naruto's dagger was stuck. Pulling it free with the help of his momentum he bent his knees and sprung straight towards his opponent and shoved the small blade into the boy's kidney.

Feeling the boys warm blood wash over his hands he stared straight into the boys eyes and Naruto only saw surprise and disbelief. Letting go of the dagger he looked around at the gathered to see what he should do. He looked at their master in his black coat and awaited an order of some sort.

"What are you waiting for? Don't let him bleed out. Give him a warrior's death with his sword."

Feeling himself nod Naruto gathered the blade from its resting place and stood over the boy who had fallen over while he had been staring at the master. Holding the handle with both hands with the blade pointed down he stabbed with as much might as he could. Just as the blade was to stab the fallen youth he felt the blade stop of its own will. Looking up two of the surrounding assassins had charged forward and grabbed the blade before he could complete the act.

The one closest to him moved the sword and stabbed the blade into the ground before turning towards Naruto while his counterpart focused solely on the boy on the ground. When Naruto was face to face with the assassin he heard the man whisper. "You have to understand, while this is a test to see if you would take the life of someone based on master's orders but we can't have our youths going around and killing each other. You did great and we welcome you into the active assassin ranks."

Watching as the boy was carried away he tried to gain some bearings on what had just happened. He had been told for as long as he could remember, pretty much just the three years he was here, that initiation was though killing someone close to your age after a fight and now they just upped and changed the rules. Not that he wasn't happy, but still it was so underhanded. Slowly he looked around at the white clad figures that surrounded him, plus one in black, and began to grin. His training was over he was a fully fledged assassin. His internal celebration was cut short when the Master yelled out.

"What are you so happy for? The assassins may have agreed to let you join but I still want more from you. Let us see how you handle impossible situations." And with that eighteen swords were drawn and pointed at Naruto.

Naruto with his hands still shaking gripped the sword still standing upwards from where the assassin had left it. Pulling it free he got into a basic defense and heard his master start the second phase of the test.

* * *

Naruto followed the master as he had been ordered to. One of the first things he learned about the master was that he got some kind of sick thrill out of keeping people out of the loop. First with the exam then with how he controlled how the people at larges saw the assassins. At first Naruto was sure it was all physical. Once he had learned enough and was strong enough he would be able to take on anyone. Turns out training more than doubled in intensity after his induction. Everyday his brain and brawn were tested with puzzles or fights of extreme conditions. Pretty soon it was the days when he was given breaks that began to grate at his nerves. He couldn't walk though any enclosed area without worrying if someone on his master's orders was going to jump out and attack him. Though if you asked Naruto he wouldn't have it anything else.

Naruto had always picked up on things faster than others when it came the blade or body, you also couldn't call him dumb by any stretch of the imagination. Several of the people who knew him and his story figured that the boy was trying to replace the lost memories of the first ten years of his life with his current one. As of yet Naruto only knew two things about himself. One his name was Naruto, though his last name eluded him. Lastly he was charged with killing someone even if he didn't know the name of the man he knows the persons eyes and face.

Coming out of his impromptu trance he realized that his master was holding a door open for him. Entering the room he realized that they had moved into the armory. He looked back at his master only to see the man point into the depths of the room. Not clearly knowing what to do he began his track throughout the room. Walk around he saw many things, swords of every shape and size, throwing knives of varying weight distributions and design, with many other items like shinobi weapons and samurai swords. Few items made him pause for more than a second. He did pick up a few nice looking throwing knives that felt better in his hands than his old set. The daggers they had all seemed second hand to the one he had now. Truly the one thing that stopped Naruto cold was the hidden blades. He could remember some of the older assassins talking about their uses and to the impressionable teen they became a must have. He was so compelled to have one he grabbed two just in case.

Walking back to where his master was with his new toys he awaited the comments, and he wasn't disappointed. "You didn't get a sword, and do you really think you need two hidden blades?"

Naruto tried to defend his choices. "The swords they have don't feel right, even the samurai ones. As for the hidden blades, well they're cool."

"That is not the point. The sword you are using is given to novices for a reason. Yes it will cut the body but it is not up to the quality expected of the blades one of your stature to use. I guess it really doesn't matter much until later when you get the very difficult missions. Any how we still have one more stop to make. Follow."

Keeping up with the older man Naruto was again ushered into a room. Only this time instead of weapons were thousands of the white coats he had seen his brothers wear. He went to grab one when his master put his arm on his shoulder. "Just wait I'll be right back." And with that his master vanished behind the piles of white cloths. When he did come back he did carry a package of some sort but did not give it to the boy, he instead just carried the package past his student and ordered the boy to follow once again.

They had left the confides of the warehouse and were in the thick of the surrounding forest. Finally coming to a stop he turned towards the blond boy. "We are at an impasse. Tradition dictates that you must be in the family in order to wear the clothes of the creed. Although they may view you and you them as family as it stand there is no blood or marriage that connects you to us. When we found you three years ago there were many things going against you, the non-family part being a large part of the controversy that was your induction into learning our ways. I went out of my way to make sure you would be taught and now that you are and ready to wear our symbol you cannot. The fact that all our family wears white apparel all the same except for minor details gives the warriors a sense of unity stronger than anything you can imagine. So because you are not allowed to wear the white coat I give you this."

Handing the package to the Naruto no time was wasted as the boy ripped apart the wrapping and uncovered a rather plan black coat just like his masters only without any identifying marks. Seeing the boy look up in confusion he chuckled at the youth.

"Now before you ask, no I'm not giving a sign of leadership."

"…but that's what the black jacket represents."

"No, what the black jacket represents is our difference. The leaders of this creed do feel that everyone that they control is important and if our job was as simple as prevent harm to those people we could wear the white but we send many young men to their deaths. Would you still include yourself as a member of the family if you had mercilessly slit their throats? I and apparently my forbearers didn't either and thus we wear black to symbolize not our unity with our family but our separation. Just smug a few characteristics and that jacket matches you like a glove. A member of the family and yet just not fully integrated. So put it on and you can do whatever customizing you want over the next three years. After that you will be fully trained and I will start giving missions that any of our brothers would be hard pressed to complete." Waiting for the boy to get dressed in the proper attire he prepared himself to teach him everything he would be ready for. Their energy, their weapons, their familiars, when he was done with the boy he would be the best assassin ever trained and kill that Uchiha then "it" would be his.

* * *

A black clad figure stood in the middle of a clearing letting the wind blow his open coat in every which way. The figures face was mostly covered in shadows by the hood that hung off his head. His arms were covered by his jacket leaving his hands exposed and empty for all to see. Red belts of fabric wrapped around his torso and flowed in the wind a little off his body. Dark pants and boots completed his look. He didn't wear a sword on him.

Naruto stood surround be trees, and even though he couldn't see them enemies. He gathered even more of is energy into his core. When it happened he would need every bit of energy he could to move and strike. Waiting until his heart became the only sound he could hear he then slightly moved his body to the left send one of the many signals of a man's resolve and focus weakening. Like clockwork some idiot fell for it. Coming from the right a man in white dash towards him as fast as he could only get his weapon pushed to the side and feel a small blade graze his neck. 'One.' Naruto kept track of in his head.

The next two came together shoulder to shoulder hoping to overpower the sixteen going on seventeen year old. It was not to be as the teenager jumped in a small arc just over them taping both in the face with his dagger and a hidden blade coming from his sleeve. 'Three.'

Another made itself know just stand off to the side twirling his sword by his handle. Knowing exactly why the man was making a move to attack Naruto dashed into the range of the swordsman. Dodging left as the man stopped his swords movement and used the inertia to carry though into a slash turned out to be a mistake as the man couldn't stop the blade from being grabbed by Naruto and was put down with an elbow to the face. Taking no time to count his kill he made a sharp turn on the heel of his foot and raised the blade still in his hand and stopped the two blades form crashing into his skull. Pushing both back enough that they disengages their blades he watched as they jumped back even further and waited for him to make a move and make a move he would. Pulling a smoke bomb from his pocked he threw it onto the ground where it burst and made a thick irritating fog that make it hard to breath much less see. When the smoke cleared the two warriors stood stupefied that they couldn't find the upstart just because they los sight of him for a second. Stories that others had told of the boy's ability weren't fabricated in the least. Both stood ramrod straight as the felt a sharp point on both their necks. Looking behind them they saw the smirking face of their "killer". Both sighed and laid on the ground "dead".

"Six. Well that was fun and all but I must get going. See you guys later."

"That guy doesn't pull any punches does he?"

"What are you complaining about I really got hit unlike the rest of you."

"Hey you guys weren't obstructed by the smoke did you see him move?"

"No…sigh…he really does abuse that skill one moment he was there then he just vanished and reappeared several seconds later behind you guys."

"I feel sorry for whoever he gets as a first true mission."

"I feel sorry for us, my poor nose."

Naruto stood at attention before his and his creeds master. In black robes that were like his the man was an imposing figure. The bold grey worn on his person blended so well with his dark jacket and gray beard made him look wiser than most would expect. Unlike his coat though, his hood did nothing to prevent his eyes from showing. And those old, ironically, grey eyes were trained on him. Naruto tried not to fidget under the hard gaze.

"It's time for your first mission that will test you in all your abilities depending on how you handle it. While you aren't to kill him you must find him, a task in of itself, and make him belief you are one of us by sneaking up on him. When you get there he will ask what you need of him. You must ask for "that which he promised the creed". Bring it back here and your mission will be complete."

"My first hard mission is a delivery, what do I look like a shinobi?" asked Naruto with some anger.

"Maybe you would feel better if you saw this man's file." Naruto grabbed the folder that had been laying in front of him. "What does Jiraiya of the Sannin have that we want?"

"The most important thing you could ever hope to have as an assassin, information. Information that is very important to you actually."

"What do you mean?"

"Jiraiya should give you a scroll. In that scroll will be a list of people, said peoples characteristics and techniques, and other things he finds important. Your true mission will began once the scroll is back here and I select your target from the list. Once you have completed that mission you'll get a new one understand?"

Naruto shook his head. "No I don't understand. Why am I taking on a list of people from the get go?"

The Master seemed to think about what he said "These men were why I raised you Naruto. It is your duty to kill them because you were selected for it. Get that list and come back here. Now go I have things to do."

Seeing that his master wasn't going to be giving out any more info he looked backed into the file he took with him. He needed a place to start looking.

* * *

Jiraiya was currently where everyone who knew him or his hobbies would expect the man to be. Sitting outside a bathhouse watching all kinds of soft flesh all while jotting down notes in a notebook he kept on him at all times. Just as he felt he was finishing a great scene a sense of depression het him and made him scribble out what he had just finished writing. Closing his notebook and placing it in his knapsack he Stood up and walked away before he lost it in public. Ever since six years ago when Sarutobi-sensei had written him to come back home and he found out that his god son had been taken by some unknown assailant, Jiraiya just could bring himself to fully envelop himself knowing that his godson's killer was still out there. It got even worse when he stumble on the trail of a group called Akatsuki and found out that not only was their objective to collect the nine tailed animals but had already succeeded in capturing several including the nine tails. It meant that after a year of not knowing what had happened to the boy he then knew who to blame.

After that Jiraiya made it his new life goal to see to that horrid organizations end. Unfortunately there was no way that he could take them on so he had sought out the assassins. Of the four main groups of warriors; Shinobi, Samurai, Monks, and Assassins only the later were a relatively unknown to the world at large. Rumors were passed of white shadows but never had the stories ever carried a lick of believability. One day he was found by one of them. He carried an aura of calmness about him while he explained that the "creed" had noticed him snooping around and was willing to do business with him. It was a stroke of luck.

There were stipulations of course. One was that he would have to do the entire information gathering. That had been easier said than done but he had finally gotten information on everyone but not a strange character by the name of Tobi. He just seemed to come up in a conversation once and then nothing was heard about him again. So Jiraiya had an incomplete list of nine s-ranked shinobi that all seemed invincible in their own way. Maybe the assassins had strike teams like the ninja did. That was the only way that he could imagine it to be done.

The next stipulation was that once a creed member retrieved the scroll he would pull out of all information gathering until the Akatsuki was dead. It was another situation of easy said than done. What was he suppose to do for the time being just sit around and do nothing. He was positive that wouldn't sit well with Sarutobi or himself, but if it killed his grandsons killers then so be it.

* * *

Naruto was starting to get very frustrated at the old man he hadn't even met yet. He had been to twenty different major towns on the border of Wind Country just where the folder had said the man was suppose to be and yet he couldn't fine hind nor hair of the man. It shouldn't be this difficult to find a tall white haired man on tall performance shoes, but obviously he was a very crafty person.

Taking a different route off the main trails he decided he needed a good night's sleep at an inn. Then he would try to get any information he could from the surrounding people. If nothing showed up then he would need to take a trip to Konoha and see if the man hadn't gone home. As long as he didn't go back a failure everything would be alright in time.

Later that day Naruto had been shadowing some prostitute who had said that a big spender had come to town quite loudly for over half a dozen of her co-workers could hear. Decided that the person they were talking about must be important never the less he followed to a nearby bar. Crouching on the roof top on the building next door Naruto saw the numerous females all standing around the man but couldn't get a good look at the man's face. He needed to get closer, taking a look around him Naruto made his move. Jumping over to a taller building next to where he had been standing Naruto grabbed at an iron pipe that came out of the wall. He climbed all the way to the top, now he needed the jump the street.

Taking a few steps back Naruto sprinted and jumped off the roof he was currently on. As he fell he positioned his body so that he would land on bent legs and semi stiff arm, upon landing he rolled to displace the energy caused by his impact. Getting back on his feet Naruto climbed down the taller building until he was just slightly higher than the bars roof. Jump and twisting his body so that Naruto landed facing the opposite direction from how he jumped he looked for any obvious openings on the two story bar. Seeing none Naruto figured he would have to get through a window somehow and sneak down the stairs. Hopefully he wouldn't come out right in front of the man. But until then he need to blend in.

Standing in one place Naruto placed hands in a prayer position and opened his core to the energy of the world around him. Almost instantly Naruto felt "connect" it was really the only way to describe it. With this feeling he could pass by almost any person except the hyper aware without them knowing that he was ever there to begin with. The only reason he didn't just walk in the door like this was that he was worried that such a legendary shinobi would be able to sense hem. Naruto dropped his hand position keeping that connected feeling. It was really where he differed from most assassins, while they needed to hold the prayer position and look unsuspicious he didn't. It was all on his ability to hold the environments energy in his core, and as long as he wasn't startled or worked up he could keep the ability going forever.

Taking measured steps Naruto looked over the roof and saw one window wide open just waiting for him on the second floor. Jumping down slowly to the small platform surrounding the window he walked into the room empty. Easing the door open he looked both ways to see if anyone would see the door move on its own. Seeing no one he opened the door and closed it just as a pair of ladies came out the room adjacent from the one he just came out of. Standing still while they were facing him he concentrated on that connected feeling and waited as the two women passed by him. Waiting a few seconds Naruto then followed their example and went down the stairs. Seeing the bar filled with booths he noticed the section that he still couldn't see his impromptu to target due to being surrounded by girls of the loose type. Luckily the bar was shaped like a square with the outer side being reserved for booths and the counter forming a smaller square with in the bar. Moving to his right Naruto made sure not to touch anyone or draw the attention of any of the drunken man and women.

Finally he got a good look at the man and low and behold if it was his target. If he was in hadn't been in mission mode he would have smiled but for now appearances must be kept. Moving to the booth behind him Naruto drew the hidden blade from his right arm and sat down with his arm behind the man. Slowly so that no to make an actual stab but make his intention known he press the blade though the material in pressed against the man back. Seeing the man straighten Naruto spoke so that only Jiraiya would hear him.

"I think it's time you became a solitary drinker." Hearing the threat from the unknown assailant he eventually convinced the girls to go get a drink at the bar on his tab. As soon as the girls were gone he placed his glass in front of his lips to look like he was drinking.

"There has to be a better place to attack me you know."

"Which would be true if I was trying to kill you, as it is you have something I need?"

"O, and what would a simple hermit have that an assassin would want?"

"Only something you promised the creed a long ago." Jiraiya barely twisted his head around before he felt another sharp poke in his back. "I wouldn't"

Jiraiya just sighed and reached into his knapsack. Pulling out a rather plan looking scroll he casually set it over his shoulder so that it fell onto Naruto's side. Hearing a slight rustle Jiraiya just raised an eyebrow. "Not going to check and see if I completed my end of the deal?"

"What would be the point? I'll just find you all over again. Well I must be off."

"Wait… Do you know the persons who will be carrying out the mission?"

"Maybe. Why do you ask?"

"I just…I guess I just want more of a personal guarantee. Those bastards took something precious to me. I don't have much left now a day and my godson was one of those things but just because he was a jinchuriki they took him and killed him. I'm normally really adamant about not hating people but I just want these bastards off the face of the planet."

Naruto didn't want to give out any information but this man wasn't asking for much. "I'll see what I can do."

Jiraiya just got big eyed and stood up completely forgetting where he was and ended up knocking over the table that he was sitting at startling the whole room. When Jiraiya managed to look back at the booth behind him it was already vacant. "I really hope you succeed."

Turning the corner by the bar Naruto just wondered what a jinchuriki was and what he was getting himself into. Not that it mattered much; he was bound to figure it out eventually. Especially if the people he had to go after could make a man like that not want to directly oppose the bunch when he had every reason too. Well all he had to do was find his way back home then he could begin his mission true.

* * *

Thanks for reading.


	2. Killing the Undead

Path of the Assassin-a mostly Naruto Fanfiction

By

Gunslinger1555

I do not own Naruto or Assassins Creed

"Well done Naruto, but I couldn't help but notice you didn't read it at all. Why, these people are your next missions you know." The master of the creed of assassins looked at his own personal student with a bit of curiosity. Missions where an assassin had to gather items for future missions were not that uncommon and usually prompted the person on the mission to look into the facts as much as possible. Yet Naruto refused to look at the scroll that had a list of the most difficult people to kill on the continent.

"Yes, but at the same time I feel like I'm stepping into something big and don't want to jump to conclusions that could get me or my brothers killed."

"Spoken like a true member of the creed, but tell me how you feel about this. What does Naruto think?"

Naruto looked around the room he was in trying to gather his thoughts. It looked like a library with tomes filling the hundreds of bookshelves the room had. The occasional item was scattered around in what seemed like a random display. Every now and then a servant would come and bring a book to an authority figure. The room seemed to surround the master's desk that held many documents and items that only the master could look at. Behind him was a large window that faced the east so that the rising sun would shine in and illuminate the room. Looking at his master Naruto didn't really know what the man wanted from him. He was trained to think of the creed first and himself last after all his family, and here his master was asking for a person opinion.

"I guess I'm hesitant about this. Jiraiya the Toad Sannin is neither fool nor someone who you want to go out of your way to anger, yet these people did something that angered him and he doesn't retaliate. The targets must incredibly powerful shinobi or at least very special. I don't want to read a file that may broadcast a member as easier than the next. It would only dull my abilities."

The master nodded at his student's logic. "Your right, these men are some of the strongest the shinobi world has ever produced. Compared to the thousands of other shinobi out there they are unmatched in power, speed, or skill, and this is where you will beat them. For too long have the assassins downplayed our abilities while these shinobi, nothing more than solders mimicking our techniques, have reached the point of legends. Yes compared to other in their trade they are better but compared us the factors are different."

"What do you mean?"

"These men are going to have certain expectations of your battles, if you let your missions escalate to that level. Where shinobi have focused on speed and being all around warriors we have focused on stealth, grace, and ingenuity. So put simply if other shinobi can't be expected to kill them it falls into the hands of us assassins. You are one of the best we have currently, perfectly balanced in both body, energy, and mind. If anyone could pull though this situation you can Naruto. Now go get some rest and see me tomorrow before dawn by that time I'll have read the scroll and received an update on your target."

Bowing his head Naruto left the older man to his work. Leaving though a set of large double doors Naruto looked back at the castle he had just come from. While not as big as some of the buildings still standing today it held a regal feel to it. The building had very little color except for the red banners that carried the creeds coat of arms flapping in the wind and the ivy stretching towards the top of the building. Around the castle was another thing entirely. Wild flowers sported in organized patterns grown painstakingly by the all the hands that took care of it. Directly in front of the building led to an old Tree than had been built into the wall of stone that protect the creed if an attack should happen and retreat was sounded. Walking though the tree he laid his eyes upon the village he called home. Build into the face of a steep mountain the people painstakingly built into the surrounding cliffs and caverns without destroying any of the surrounding trees or flowers. The place was a perfect utopia of what humanity could achieve with the strong morals of what his creed taught and practiced.

Making his way down a hill he caught the eye of one to the grand teachers of the creed arts. Seeing his fellow assassin's expression upon seeing him he quickly turned and walked in the opposite direction pretending not to have seen the man but to no advice.

"Hey Naruto, perhaps you could help me?" Hearing the voice and feeling the hand on his shoulder he knew he didn't have much of a choice.

"Sure what do you need as if I didn't know." Shot Naruto towards the relieved person next him.

"Great, great, you see I have a new brood of students trying to learn the basics and well you know how horrible I am with the god's gift."

"Bad enough that you're not allowed out the gates of the village for any reason except for an emergency."

The man nodded in agreement. "To true Naruto, to true, but then again not everyone can have the natural talent that you do with the skill. Maybe by you giving a quick lesson some of your skill will rub off on my students. Begin whenever you feel ready."

Naruto looked at the group of children that surround them. They all stood at the assassins ready stance trained since very young to be constantly tense and ready to react. It was this stance that made god's gift so hard to learn. The white clad man spoke to

"Alright in order to learn the god's gift you must have two things. One you already have no matter the amount is the ability to draw upon your environments energy not to store but to channel though yourself and back out to the world around you.

One of the ways that a human recognizes people is the barely recognizable energy they give off. Your average person doesn't even realize they are doing it, this also enables people to feel if the environment is tense or exited, so when you channel the environment's energy though yourself your natural presence is erased and it is like you were never even there. It also requires that your body be in an unaggressive stance. People can pick up on the small signals we send though body language. The tense muscles and jaws you all sport will make you instant alerts for anyone "looking" for suspicious behavior. Relax and have faith in your own skills, now before I demonstrate are there any questions?" Seeing one boy raise his hand Naruto nodded at him to begin.

"What is this energy you were talking about?"

Shooting a look at the groups teacher and seeing a responding shrug of the shoulders Naruto figured he might as well do it seeing as their teacher was incompetent. "The energy goes by many names, usually based on who is using it. Martial Artist call it chi, monks call it reiatsu, and shinobi call it chakra. We as assassins are taught that this energy is everywhere inside and outside of us where the other groups I mentioned earlier belief it relies solely on the individual. Though meditation and vision quest one can locate where the energy flows heaviest and where it is released from our bodies. Though a very specific set of exercises which some will never get," Naruto took a pointed look at the teacher." We can feel out and even gather this energy. Any more questions? No, then allow me to demonstrate."

Naruto placed both hands in front of himself with his palms facing each other with his fingers towards the sky and his elbows towards the ground and "connected" with the environment. The others watching Naruto saw the air around Naruto start to haze and distort their vision behind him. When they went to focus on Naruto he was gone as was the haze that had been surrounding him. The entire group including the teacher jumped when Naruto spoke from behind them in clear view.

"Unfortunately there are a few disadvantages to the skill. Most that learn it have to be completely stationary otherwise their control breaks and they become visible to everyone. Even when you cross that threshold and can do it while moving you can only do it while walking very slowly. Also it's impossible to use it to lose someone if they are following you. If someone has their focus on you they will still know your there no matter how good you are. Other than that there's not much left to say. Practice and you can eventfully become adept at it."

Naruto walked over to the teacher and grasp the offered forearm. "Teach them well brother."

"Good luck on your mission brother, live long."

"And to you to."

Naruto went on his way to his sleeping area where he waited and rested for the rest of the day.

* * *

"Did you rest well Naruto? You'll need all the will and energy you can muster."

"Yes master."

The master stood up and looked out the window behind him with his arms behind his back. "That's fortunate, some people in your position would have been worked up to the point of insomnia."

"I'd like to think I'm in better control of myself. Thanks in no small part to your training master."

The master faced Naruto again. "I hope you are, for your sake. Now before I give you your target there are a few things you should know. On the scroll you received were ten names that correspond to the nine men and one woman that you must kill. These ten people are part of an organization that are hunting the nine tailed beast, for what purpose we can only guess."

During his explanation of the mission Naruto had stepped closer to the man and had been looking out the window at the outer gardens before he turned to ask a question. "Do you have any theories as to what they plan to do with the tailed beings?" His master stroked his beard for a moment before answering.

"I have several but like you I don't like saying such things without any facts to back up my assumptions. Regardless as to why they are doing what they do they must be stopped. Now the real important part of me telling you this, the organization called Akatsuki has a few quarks to them. Every member regardless of skill is assigned a partner that they are not allowed to be separated from for any great length of time. This will make your assignment very difficult because if you do happen to kill one without raising a ruckus then the other certainly will know what's going on. From that point on your only option will be to run or fight.

Not only that but each member wear a ring that holds some significance that is yet to be known. What we do know is that at the time of death the rings will send a signal to the leader of the group that will somehow let the leader know how his men have died. Meaning the more you kill the more they will be looking out for you. The more they look for you the harder it will be to fool them with your abilities."

Both men looked out the window but didn't see beyond the glass to lost in plans and thoughts until Naruto came to his senses and looked towards his master. "So who is my first target?"

"Your first target goes by the name of Hidan, no surname. Has average length gray hair and uses a three bladed scythe. In terms of abilities based on what Jiraiya gave use he has no ninja arts and would be the weakest of the group if not for the fact that he supposedly can't be killed due to a blood god favoring him and by rituals that he must complete to appease said god." The master had finished the sentence with a hint of disdain.  
"You don't agree that is what is happening." Naruto didn't so much ask a question as much as state what he thought he saw.

"We of the creed find that if there is such gods in the world then they must not be worth bowing down to. How often have we killed someone and listened to those lost souls pray to their gods to let them live. Many and it is because of that, that don't think it is as simple as a god showing its blessing. Forgive me I went off on a tangent."

"No worries. I'd prefer to think that something is being left out of these rituals as opposed to the idea that a god doesn't want that man dead. Makes my mission easier."

"To true, now our information has two more pieces of information about the man. One is that he is partnered with the man named Kakuzu. This man has a history similar to that of Hidan's being that he has a recorded history dating back to the start of the shinobi villages. Although our informatives have had little reason to get close to the man, those who have given the statement that his energy feels off compared to a normal person's. One was quoted as saying "It was like five very different people were standing in front of me but I could only see one."

"Any distinguishing characteristics?"

"Jiraiya did note that the man was like a walking medical experiment. Take from that what you will. Other than that I have nothing left for you than directions of where to begin you search. Resent reports state that two member of the Akatsuki were seen heading towards Kumo in the Land of Lightning. We believe that one of these men is your target. Now leave and may you return in good health and even better news."

"Yes Master."

* * *

Naruto had traveled a very large distance to find himself at the base of the mountain range that surrounded Kumo. It was perfectly secured and surrounded in all directions by the pointed mountains. A shinobi of Kumo would flare their chakra at a certain key points along the ridges but Naruto was so brash that he would charge into a gathering hold of enemies.

His only viable point of entry would have to be along one of the heavily watched over paths that only certified civilians could travel though. Finding one wasn't difficult but finding one that and a slack group of shinobi at the gates was. He didn't want to put the town on alert if he didn't have to. He had just decided to retreat for the night when he caught site of a large man on the ground with a group of thugs surrounding him.

"Come on you fat fuck. Just give us your money and we will let you go. If we end up killing your ass then well find your family and kill them too."

The man was rolled up into a ball trying to protect himself from the blows that came at him. His cloths, if you subtracted the cuts and stains from the mugging, had a class to it that only the wealthy could afford to wear. "I can't. I don't have any on me, please let me leave and I go get some."

"Who do you think I am, huh? Do you think I'm stupid? Like I don't know that if I let a man like you leave that you will tell the shinobi that were out here. No I know you have money on you now were is it stashed, my friends and I have to kill you?"

The man by this time was sobbing at his pointless situation. Naruto knew this man was exceedingly brave just that he had no cash to trade for his life and was beginning to give up. Naruto figured that he might as well help this man for no other reason than to satisfy his commitment to his creed and its values. Marching up to the man and his three attackers Naruto didn't even need to hide his presence from the men so focused on their goal of gathering money.

The leader of the group pulled out a knife and held it under the man's nose. "Now I'm going to give you to the count of three to tell me where your money is otherwise were going to see how well you breathe though a slit in your neck understand? One….Two…. Thre…."

"Three." A blade exited through the leader's stomach. Gaping in horror at what had happened to him he missed the blade being retracted from where it had ripped though him. Naruto swung his bloody sword in a small effortless horizontal arc that decapitated the man. The head of the leader fell an faced the bigger man laying in the dirt. Horror and fear passed though the man as he looked up at the black clad figure of the killer of his killer. Seeing the man's response Naruto opted for the civil reproach seeing as if a group of shinobi passed by hit wouldn't look good for him.

"Are you alright?" The man looked up at him in wonder Naruto barley heard the man's whispered question.

"Aren't you going to kill me?"

"I see no reason to." Naruto thrust his hand towards the man which was exepted eagerly and used to pull the man back to his feet. Once the man got a good footing he streated his arms wide and hugged Naruto, one that if Naruto not trained his body to handle more would have probably crushed something.

"Thank You, Thank You, I had just given up any hope of seeing my family, and thanks to you I can. If there is anything I can do I would be glad to help you."

Taking a step away from the man Naruto thought about his situation. "I was going to head into Kumo but I don't have a place to stay or any money…"

"Speak no more. I will gladly lend you a cot my friend. After all it's the least I can do. Come with me." Naruto was guided out of the area by the man, only allowing himself to be pushed due to the man constantly looking back at the three corpses on the ground. As they walked Naruto asked a question that had been on his mind.

"Tell me. You wear the clothes of a high class man and yet you were walking around without any protection or company why?"

The man looked down for a bit before telling his tale. "I had been traveling with a group of businessmen and was returning home when I realized that I must have lost my wallet and identification needed in order to get back into Kumo with our kage's strict border requirements. I had my associates inform my family so that they could come get me but that would take some time. So I decided that I would backtrack a ways and see if I could find it. As you could see I didn't get very far." The rest of the trip was made in silence up until they came across the civilian checkpoint.

"Kumo citizen identification please."

"Surely you know how I am I just be going in with my friend here and…"

As the business man tried to walk by the checkpoint one of the on guard shinobi reached out and gripped the man's shoulder with enough force to make the man wince.

"Stop right there, just because you look like an important person of our village doesn't mean we're going to let you in. Now tell me why you are in the appearance of our councilmen. If you don't answer to my liking I'll be forced to make you talk."

"Now see here if you don't unhand me right now I'll make sure you loss your shinobi status on the ground your over paranoid and run a risk of upsetting relations with someone important, Like Me."

"Talk to me like that again we'll see how long you have the ability to talk at all."

Before a reply could be given a shout came from the other side of the checkpoint. "Papa, we were so worried." A young woman stepped forward and hugged the larger man. "We were so scared. It's good to know your o.k."

One of the security guards decided that the situation could turn bad and grabbed the woman away from the man. "Miss, please refrain from hanging around such suspicious folk. They are dangerous and are only using the image of your father to trick us."

The woman huffed and pulled a card from a small pocket in her dress. "Every time the Raikage performs a routine inspection you assume everyone is a threat, here." Taking the card the guard read what was written on it before quickly handing to the large man.

"I'm sorry sir, it just that the Kage has been really buckling down on us. Please forgive me."

The man brushed off his clothes where the man had grabbed him. "Yeah I understand your just doing your job but don't let it happen again. Come now daughter and friend now let us be on our way."

Once again the guard stopped them. "Excuse me sir but that man can't…"

"Would you like to go on report son? Besides he's with me. I'll take full responsibility."

Naruto along with the man he had saved and his daughter continued on their way to the heart of Kumo.

Along the way both father and daughter had tried to get some information about Naruto out of him but all they got were a few general answers and his name. Soon the tunnel they had been walking though opened up to display Kumo in all its glory. It was pretty easy to see why it had been called Kumo seeing as the same mountains that were used as a defensive also trapped large white clouds from ever leaving the clouds in a rocky prison.

"Naruto my boy I'm sure you know this but stay away from the Kage's tower, it's the one directly in the center of Kumo and reached to the highest points of any building in this village. If he see's someone he's not knowledgeable of he will detain you and even I can't help you. O that reminds me, here take this for your trouble in saving me I just don't think offering you my house is enough to repay you. This will guarantee your passage in and out of Kumo no questions asked, though they do record the number of people who go through the gates like this."

Naruto looked at the card in his hands. In fine gold writing it clearly stated that if this card was presented at any of the civilian entry and exit ways that the hold be given the right of passage. As Naruto was reading the card the man and his daughter had begun a bicker.

"Saved your life? Daddy what are you saying did something happen to you?"

"No not at all. Right Naruto nothing happened… Naruto?" Both generations looked at were Naruto had been standing and he was gone. "Huh, where did that fine bloke run off too?"

"Enough about him what happened to you?" Their words were starting to gather a crowd.

* * *

Naruto didn't have a clue where to look for his targets. Unlike stationary targets which couldn't help but generate some noise for those looking for them to follow he had no such luck. He was searching for two infamous shinobi that would probably go out of their way to stay unnoticed if they were smart. So Naruto had to do some research at the typical places to do so. His first stop was a rather rundown bar that was hidden off the beaten path, a sure place for slime to gather. His first steps into the establishment confirmed his belief.

Sitting at the counter he ordered a drink and observed the other occupants from the side of his vision. There really were some keepers of the bunch but if he had to stake his life on his decision of informant he would need chose wisely. He could only assume that Akatsuki had some for of information from the inside of every village he just needed to find the person that had or would talk to the member he was looking for.

"Man Kenji it's not fair. You come in here with a bag of cash and you're winning every hand!" Naruto saw what looked to be a gathering of men all playing a game of cards with one man with a large pile of cash in front of him.

"Shut up loser, it's not my problem you can't afford to stay in now scram so some paying people can enjoy the game. Now is there anyone in this dump that wants to lose some money."

"What are we playing?" The man named Kenji looked surprised by Naruto's question.

"You're really going to play against me when I'm having a night like this. Ha, so be it. Simple game of poker, we'll deal the cards and have a chance to draw as many cards as we like. After that we'll bet and see who wins. You know how to play right? Cuze I'm not going to tell you which cards to go for."

"That's fine, I hope you can forgive me as I only have a few pieces on me but they should match you bet." Naruto had set a small disk of gold on the table.

"Holy… Is that real? Even with the amount I have on me I can't match that."

"That's fine because if I win I don't want any of your money, just some information."

The man narrowed his eyes as he look at Naruto and the gold piece. "What happens if I don't know this information you're looking for?"

Naruto paused for dramatic effect. "I'd have to take my winning from you in other ways."

The man gulped but couldn't take his eyes of the metal currency. "Alright then you're on. So we will each receive five cards and have one chance to draw and then highest combination wins, clear?"

"Crystal."

Others who had been making an attempt not to be listening in on the high stakes game in the making quickly lost any decency and rushed the table to watch the proceedings. Soon after ten cards were dealt and picked up in almost mirror fashion. Naruto's face didn't even seem to register anything from his glaze at his cards while the other man looked smug. He glanced at Naruto "You know what I'll give you the option to draw first."

Naruto threw out three of his five cards keeping the pair he had in his hand, and received three of a kind making his highest card combination a full house. He let a smile form on his face so that his opposition could see it.

Acting as if he had already won the man more or less shouted so everyone in the bar could hear him. "Must have gotten a good hand but I don't think it could possibly be as good as my original hand so I'll draw no cards." Murmurs erupted from the crowd surrounding the game.

"Kenji's hand must be pretty good, ya."

"Yeah no kidding."

The man named Kenji apparently had enough waiting and spurred his opponent on. "Well come on then let's see what can make a stiff like you smile." Naruto did as he was told and threw his hand on the table face up.

"Full house, Jacks over tens." Kenji didn't waste a second in showing the bar his cards still holding them in his hand.

"Four of a kind, Aces!" The bar crowd who had been cheering for the home team so to speak shouted with praise on the win. Those who had already lost their money cursed, even if they wouldn't have gotten their money back they would have loved to see their better at cards lose for once.

Naruto only frowned at the winning hand. It wasn't the loss of money that upset him seeing as he was told to not place faith in monetary wealth but the fact that the hand was impossible for only using one deck of cards. He had discarded an ace.

Kenji reached over to gather the gold coin when Naruto caught his hand. "It must feel good to win such wealth without even having to gamble a single thing in return."

The man tried to remove his hand from Naruto's grip to no avail. "What do you mean? Let me go this instant."

Naruto ignored the man and used his other arm to push up the man's sleeve to show a device much like his own hidden blades only this one had a hand of cards in it. All aces.

Pandemonium erupted from those who felt they had been cheated earlier. Naruto blocked their path with his arm. Stepping behind the cheater he secured both arm and collected his bet. "I'll take the trash out but I have no need for his money, enjoy." Naruto walked out the bar with his captive and went into a dark alley nearby.

Coming to a stop Naruto turned the man to face him. "Now you're going to tell me all you know about a man name Hidan or Kakuzu got it?"

The man stopped all struggling at the names. "Why would you want to know about them?"

"That is none of you concern rather you should be wonder what you should tell me to keep your life."

"REALLY? If I tell you you'll release me?"

"Of course."

The man looked down for a bit in thought before he began to speak. I don't know what those two truly want but they did come to me asking about a shinobi and their location."

"Which shinobi and why would you know?"

"This shinobi is special. Every time she gets a mission it more or less gets broadcasted down the grape vine that she might finally die on duty but as of yet the one known as Nii Yugito as always come back."

"Why do the common folk of the village care about the condition of this shinobi?"

"You see, it's not her as much as what she holds. She is the holder of the two tailed great beast. Power like that can't be controlled and ever since an incident a few years ago everyone is always hoping she'll die on her next mission.

"Where is she going?"

"I don't know, so I'll tell you what I told them. One of the shinobi filing areas are located at the bottom level of the Raikage's Tower. There should be some paperwork or person that will know something. That's all I know you'll let me go right."

"Right." Naruto reared his arm behind him and slammed his hidden blade into the man.

"Why, you said you would release me?"

"And so I have, into the waiting arms of your god have I released you from your mortal bonds."

Naruto let the body drop and made his way into the center of the village.

* * *

Naruto had waited until darkness before approaching the ground level of the Raikage Tower. Two guards stood alongside the large double doors that were Naruto's objective. Tossing two smoke bombs down two different streets the small explosions they created and the smoke put the guards on guard and tensed in preparation for conflict. As time passed the smoke cleared with seemingly no intent behind them. The two guards both looked at each other and though silent agreement investigated the smoke bombs. As they passed by Naruto "connected" with the environment slipped by them and into the tower beyond.

His first impression of the tower was not a good one. People were lying in puddles of their own blood with rites written along the walls and floors. Bodies in varied degrees of dismemberment were everywhere. He performed did a quick look for any survivors and found none. Seeing as he could do no good here he searched for something that would lead him towards his target or this Yugito person.

Finding some filing room he thumbed though some of the files finding nothing that would help him when he heard a bump come from the closet inside the room. Moving slowly Naruto drew his blade and readied it while he opened the door. A child fell and slammed into the floor. Putting his sword away he went to help the boy up when he noticed the boy shaking. Deciding that touching the boy might not be the best thing right now Naruto instead asked him a question. "Are you alright, who did this?"

"men…red clouds…scythe…blood everywhere."

This had to have been the work of his targets. "Did they say where they were going?"

"Gate…Shinobi Gate Three in the north please mister don't let them get me tooooo…"

Naruto bowed his head in honor and closed the boy's glazed eyes. Just more proof that these men needed to be killed, but first Naruto needed to get out of here. He walked back to the front door and loudly banged on it enough to draw the attention of the guards and hid out of site. When one of the guards did come through the door he quickly ordered his partner to go get help. Once the second shinobi was on his way and the first checking on the injured Naruto slipped out and made his way to the northeast where gate three was located.

* * *

Getting though had been surprisingly easy seeing as the guards were dead. He ended up walking in a small dark tunnel only stopping once and that had been about fifteen minutes ago when what sounded like an explosion had gone off. When he tried to locate the origin of the sound he found a dead end made from loose rocks. Backtracking a ways he went around what he thought was the dead end and saw light at the end of the tunnel. As he got closer he heard the telltale sounds of battle and a deep growling that was growing louder and louder with each step he took. Keeping himself hidden he look on the battle between Akatsuki and Nii Yugito but did nothing to stop it.

The area that the battle was on was for the large part destroyed. Boulders jutted from the ground in random places along with large puddles of waters. In a corner of the room what looked like a large blue cat made up of blue fire was backing away from two men. One man had grey hair and a pitch black body with white marks that looked like bones, and the other looked like he had been sown together with thick black tread that connected him to a beast made out of black cords that ran though his body, on the monster was a white mask that was shaped like an animal.

The giant cat fell to its side and the blue flames receded revealing the figure of a young woman that must have been controlling the feline made of fire. Both figures relaxed as the girls chakra levels plummeted to almost nothing. Getting closer the grey haired man stepped over the unmoving girl and kicked he so that she lay on her back.

"Dammit, she survived. The least she could have done was die for making me use my abilities. Now I'm going to have to complete another ritual before we're sent out again."

The masked monster that was connected with the other guy went back onto the man's back. "More of your stupid rituals. I already let you do one before the mission."

"Look I told you before that I don't like doing them either but it's either do them or die and I don't feel like dying."

"Whatever we'll rest for a minute in the meantime lets secure our target. I want to get this over with seeing as were not even being paid for this."

"Yeah, yeah." The grey haired man's skin changed from its previous black and white tone back into a normal shade without any marks or blemishes. Grabbing some of Kakuzu's black cord Haden and Kakuzu tied the defeated blond up to prevent her from escaping. As they were doing this Naruto had taken the opportunity to slowly walk closer to the duo all the while "connected" to prevent detection. He was ten steps away from the two when he had to force himself to breathe though his nose and steady his nerves. Five steps and he couldn't hold it anymore and felt himself loss his connections with the surrounding area. Of the two Kakuzu was the only one to notice a sudden signature appear from nowhere and was now way to close for comfort. Looking over at the power source he saw a man clothed in a black cloak that covered his head and hid the top of the man's face in shadows. Looking at the man's hands he saw a blade emerge from the sleeve. Figuring out what was going to happen he tried to warn Hidan. "Hidan!"

"Wha…ohf!"

Naruto had jammed his blade into the man's heart. He looked upon the man known as Hidan as his eyes lost the spark of life in them.

"So Kakuzu was right. I really did die because I let my guard down he-he." Falling backwards the body of Hidan dislodged itself from Naruto blade. Flicking his wrist to get the blood off he did the hand motion that receded the blade back into its hidden position. Looking over at the other member of the group Naruto slowly pulled his sword from its holster. He knew he wouldn't be able to hide again so he might as well prepare for battle.

"So you actually managed to kill the fool."

"You don't seem that broken up about it."

"Why would I? I hated the guy. I don't know what you know about us or why you are targeting us but we don't get chose who we work with."

"Good, that means that no one will want revenge for you."

"You think you can best me?"

"If you're as done in as your partner was then I think I stand a fair chance."

"We'll see about that, now die!" Naruto dived forward feeling more than knowing that an attack had been about to strike him from behind. Rolling onto his feet he ran towards his stationary opponent only to once again have to dive out of the way as the black cords came from seemingly random directions.

Having enough of dodging Naruto swiped his sword to deflect one of the black attacking strings. Hearing a familiar sound of metal on metal crushed Naruto's hope that he would be able to cut his opponents weapon of choice. Trying again to close the distance Naruto had to use all his agility and skill to jump over and dodge the attacks aimed at him. Finally coming within range of Kakuzu Naruto raised his arm to swing and just barely saw the white mask over Kakuzu's shoulder with a red light coming from the mouth of the mask. Crossing his arms over his face Naruto felt the impact of the erupting flames against his forearms and was thrown back away from the blast.

Looking over his arms he saw his clothes near his arms were not but ash and every time he moved them it would flake apart. He couldn't risk getting hit again. Standing shakily on his feet he saw the mask rear back again and spout flames in his direction side stepping to avoid the blast he couldn't do anything about the hand and forearm that came behind the flames. Grabbing him by the neck Naruto was pulled forward until he was face to face with Kakuzu.

"Even if I hadn't been on my last bit of chakra I would have still found you interesting. You should be grateful I don't always consider my enemies as possible hearts unless they show great elemental skills but seeing as I only have two left I think yours will do. All we have to do is get rid of that pesky body of yours. Luckily I still have my flame elemental heart and enough chakra left to get destroy you."

Naruto did everything he could to break the man's hold on his neck but the suffocation as well as unnatural strength was making any attempt ill-fated at best. Opening his eyes and seeing the mask that could spout flames in front of his face Naruto pulled out a desperation move and slammed the mask with his hidden blade. A pause where nothing seemed to happen continued for a small eternity until the mask glowed red before exploding catching both Naruto and Kakuzu in the blast radius.

Opening his eyes Naruto sat up and saw the blast radius had left a gaping hole in the ground where the event had happened. Climbing to his feet he could help but acknowledge the aching of his bones, muscles, and head. Stepping around the hole he came across the down form of Kakuzu. Naruto grabbed his dagger from his side but before he could finish the job he heard Kakuzu talk.

"What do you hope to achieve by killing us, huh?"

"Is killing you to prevent more from dying not enough of a cause?"

"No, not when the group's overall goal is to kill everyone."

"What?"

"I've been bring in enough money to buy several counties over the last few years and what does our leader do? Spend it all. There's no savings, no planning past what were going to do after we succeed. Just spend, spend, and spend some more. It's sickening to someone like me who loves money. So tell me what is a group of S-ranked criminals going to do with the power of the tailed beasts if they aren't plan for the future?"

"Are you sure about this?"

"No, me and that idiot weren't trusted with anything important. We just received orders."

"Is that all?"

"All that I'm going to tell you."

"So be it." Naruto thrust the dagger into Kakuzu's heart killing him instantly. Standing up he took in his condition. His front was almost destroyed clearly showing the cloths he wore underneath his black coat. His hood was completely obliterated showing his yellow hair and clear cut face.

Shaking off any pain he was feeling he collected his fallen sword and proceeded to go over to the tied up girl. Still unconscious he cut the black thread which must have weakened now that no energy was running though it and freed the girl. Quickly looking over her he figured that he need to get her to a medical professional or else she may die. Just as he was about to move to pick he up he heard the tell tale smacks of peoples feet. They must have figured out what was going on. Quickly moving off towards the side of the room he hid and waited as a group of shinobi came and took the injured girl away along with the bodies.

Giving the traveling group some time Naruto made his way out of this place and out into the open.

* * *

Naruto had stopped after a few days travel. Taking a drink from a lake he had stopped near he looked upon his face. There were no identifying marks anywhere on his face or head, surprising seeing as it must have been something great like a blow to the head that made him forget his childhood. He still had a hard time looking at his reflection and seeing himself. When he had first been found he would usually get confused by water seeing that some strange boy was always staring up at him. It was creepy and it took the strict training of his master to get him in any depth of water except for bathing.

Taking a handful of water and splashing it on his face Naruto reflected on what he knew. Akatsuki was gathering the tailed beast and their containers. The group was making no long term plans so once they got a hold on all that power they would probably use it. Why was it no one was doing anything about this? They were clearly an international problem yet they would have been able to go on like nothing was happening. Either the shinobi world was truly disorganized or something was wrong with the way this group looked on the surface.

Taking a deep breath of the surrounding air Naruto performed a count in his head. 'Two down, eight to go.'

* * *

Any questions check the profile. If that doesn't answer them I'll check the reviews and answer them there. Thanks for reading chapter two.


	3. Getting Sand In Your Joints

Path of the Assassin-a mostly Naruto Fanfiction

By

Gunslinger1555

I do not own Naruto or Assassins Creed

* * *

Blue eyes followed the path of the eagle that his mastered had just sent to deliver a message. If the creed were to be represented by any animal the noble eagle was the only choice. Clear eyes to take in every detail that surrounded you and quick to swoop in and attack. Assassins were supposed to be the same, clear of any shrouds of deception and swift and sure.

Hearing his master give a small cough Naruto turned his attention to the man. "Congratulations Naruto, it seems that your mission is off to a good start."

"If you say so master."

"You don't sound like you agree."

"I can't help but feel that I should have done a few things differently."

"Ah, I see what your problem is now. You'll find that in our business, one in which one mistake can be the difference between life and death, that you'll find yourself making plans and strategies for events long past. Learn from your mistakes Naruto and apply them to your future. Your first responsibility as one of us is to adapt, with the next being to learn as much as you are able to. You understand?"

"Yes master."

Crossing his hands the master rested his chin on his hands. "Good, now tell me everything."

"Hidan and Kakuzu are both dead by my blade. Our information was right, they were headed to Kumo to capture the two tailed demon or rather its host."

"And the condition of the jinchuriki?"

"Alive though in what condition I do not know. I decided to act after they had suppressed the beast's power and were injured."

"Attack when your enemy is weakened, a usually sound tactic though it could also bring you ruin."

"What do you mean master?"

"When you attack a person after they have finished a battle you as the aggressor are assuming many things, one being that they are weaker from their fight. What most people don't consider before hand is that after fighting for a period of time the body has a hard time bringing itself back into homeostasis. The adrenalin may have stopped flowing but the mind and muscles take time to go from over-stressed to relaxed and because of this fact they will be more responsive to exterior stimuli. "

"So I should have waited until they were more relaxed."

"No, you're alive that means your plan worked. You made the right choice regardless of what took place as a result of your decision, as long as you make it back here, but you should always think of alternate plans before doing anything rash."

"So what would have been the best way to go about doing it?"

The master sighed. "Naruto, you need to understand that there is no perfect answer. Firstly we are talking about other human being, and as history shows us there is no other beast like us when it comes to understanding our actions. Most importantly the big stipulations that determine if one strategy is better than the next come from immeasurable things like luck and skill. We as assassins weigh these variables and decide on the fly what we should do. That why we crammed that empty skull of yours with hours upon hours of material, but we really should get back on track. Was there anything else about your mission that needs reporting?"

"There was one thing."

"Oh really?"

"As Kakuzu was dying he told me a possible goal of Akatsuki. He said they were looking to eventually kill everyone. He said that their leader wasn't saving anything of what he brought in. That makes their goals short term. Do you think he was lying?"

The master sat silently pondering the question before answering. "No, I don't think he was lying. He may have truly believed that was what they were going to do. From my point of view I can't help but feel that it's a ridicules way to go about killing humanity."

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing that concerns you Naruto. Is there anything else? No, then go get some rest. Come back at dawn, your next mission will await you."

* * *

Orange ringed eyes opened and watched for the second time as a man in black killed one of his underlings. The first time could have been written off as chance or fate seeing as it was Hiden he had watched die, but when a serious person like Kakuzu died by the hands of the same person actions had to be taken. Were they being targeted or had the hobbies of both shinobi just caught up with them? It didn't truly matter that they had been killed but they had also failed the mission in a way that would only make it harder to meet the self imposed deadline that had been set.

Changing his focus from the dark room he currently inhabited to the large room that he stored his bodies in he focused on a particular one and changed his perspective to that of the empty body. Stepping out of the room he saw his blue haired friend waiting for him. Taking the well worn path down to the meeting room the two spoke no words as both knew what the other was thinking. One filled with grief and determination, the other full of regret and loyalty.

Walking into the center of the large room, Nagato and Konan formed a hand sign and sent out a pulse of chakra into their rings. Waiting for a response they stood perfectly still until five unclear figures emerged from the air, the only parts of the figures that were perfectly clear and not out of focus were the individuals eyes. Waiting a second for any disorientation to pass for the members he wasted no time in getting the point across.

"Is everyone in a secure location?" hearing affirmatives from everyone gathered excluding himself and two others he continued. "Deidara, Sasori where is your location?"

"I don't know somewhere in Fire County I suppose."

"Good, then head over into Wind Country. Zetsu has new information on the location of the one-tail. Zetsu if you would."

"Right, now it wasn't easy to find this brat so listen up you two. The one-tail was sealed about seventeen years ago into the son of the Yondaime Kazekage, a boy named Garra I belief, not that his past or name have much meaning now. Anyway apparently the little jinchuriki got fed up of the conditions of his home and ran away. It's believed that the boy wonders the desert killing any and all things that get in its path. In other words treat this target as if you were going after the beast itself."

A soft spoken voice from a red haired man asked the plant like man his question. "Do you have an exact location?"

"No, but if the boy truly is the host of the one-tail then more likely than not it will be walking around on the full moon coming up. I can only assume that leader wants Deidara to fly around and see if you two can find him."

"Correct. You two will head out at once to locate and extract the one tails at an extraction point. Send a message of which one you will be using before you go in for the grab. The rest of you will continue as you were. Before we part is there anything to report.

"Leader, we might have a lead on the five tails." Nagato looked into the spinning red of the Sharingan that belong to Itachi Uchiha. "We would like permission to deviate from the current mission to confirm our information."

"You do not think that Zetsu can do it?"

"The beast should be swimming around in Kiri. Think that overgrown weed can survive in the ocean?"

"What your tongue Kisame, fine you and Itachi can do as you wish. Report any findings. The rest of you get going." Turning away from the disappearing group he went to leave before he saw the figure lying against the wall. "What do you want?"

"You didn't say anything about missing two of our members. You forget that I hold one of the master rings as well and even though I didn't see their deaths like you did I know the connections between their rings and ours is gone. Normally if there was a situation where one of them couldn't check in they send a pulse just to confirm they know you called the meeting. The fact that they didn't appear nor send such a message can only mean that the organization is down two members. Why weren't the others warned?"

Ringed eyes narrowed in anger. "Firstly it concerns you little why I do things the way I do. I'm the leader not you now even though you're right about those two I didn't see much reason to spread it around that those two had gotten themselves killed. Probably angered the wrong person, I don't know. I do know that I don't need you hanging around here. If you need something to do then go out get us another tailed-beast. Now leave."

"It wouldn't happen to have been a young man in white correct. Didn't much look like a shinobi?"

"You're wrong; it was a man in black. Do you know of an attack against us that you're not telling us about?"

"If I was wrong about the color then I was wrong about any knowledge I have on the subject." The black haired man stated with a shrug.

Nagato seeing no point to talking with the man left the Uchiha to himself. Once he was alone Madara pondered what he had just heard. If it had been an assassin in white the explanation would be simple and exciting but black. That could only mean two things. Either that man broke his word or young Uzumaki had advance father than he ever could have hoped for.

* * *

Naruto truly hated new cloths. They pulled on his every motion making him feel slower and less agile. His new jacket was no exception. It was the same size and stitched in exactly the same way but it still felt off. With as often as Naruto had to exchange one for another due to damage he thought he would be used to it. Finally pulling it just the right way he went to see his master for his next assignment. It shocked him to find out that he wasn't in the study like he normally was. Thinking of only one other place his master visited he left the castle and into the surrounding woods.

He found the man mediating in the spot that they had once been used for practice during Naruto's training. Sitting next to his master he waited until he was greeted to begin talking. An hour later the master hadn't changed his posture but talked. "Wind country is composed entirely of deserts. As of yet no map has been crafted by any of our people nor any others to help navigate though the ever shifting sands. Only the stars aid travelers under the cover of night. Yet to those with the sight the desert welcomes all into its embrace and guides them to the heart of the sands. Tell me Naruto, do you know what is at the heart of the desert?"

"No master."

"The master of the desert, the Great Sand Raccoon dog, and the one tailed demon are all names that the heart of the desert goes by. They say that the shifting sands are caused by that monster and make the sands a terrible place to be at anytime of the day. This being is also one of Akatsuki's targets."

"So I just have to find this raccoon dog and my targets will follow?"

"More or less, one of the best things about your mission is that you know what they are after and can plan accordingly. Now we have word of two more agents headed into wind country as of late. Judging by their mode of transportation I we can safely assume that the two sent were Deidra and Sasori. Deidra is best known for his clay arts that are composed of explosive material that he can animate any way he wants to. Though to what extent and size is debatable. His partner is a puppeteer from Suna. The best they have ever produced so be prepared to face multiple opponents even if the battle starts out one on one."

Taking a second to absorb what he had been told Naruto asked his question. "Do you know where they or the one-tail is?"

"No but like I said if you can see the energy it eventually originates from the heart. You can use the sight right?"

"Only if I stand still long enough to initiate it, otherwise it still isn't as clear as it could be."

"In that case after we are done here and you are on your way to Wind Country ill message an informant we have stationed near there. He'll help you track your pray." Standing up the master made to leave before stopping and turning back to Naruto. "If you can learn from the informant, he could have much to teach you. Come back alive Naruto. Your mission is far from finished."

"Of course Master."

* * *

Naruto wheezed as he inhaled the dry unforgiving air of the desert. It burned his sinuses and irritated his throat and lungs. Every movement seemed to draw the life from him faster and faster until he was in the situation that he was in now. Thirsty, hungry, and o so tired. He also had a pounding migraine that never gave a moment's reprieve. At this rate Naruto wouldn't last much longer.

Every time Naruto climbed a hill he prayed for an end of his journey and was rewarded with more of the endless sand. This place really was hell. Finally he could go no farther. He stood at the peak of a dune staring off into the glaring distance right until his legs gave out from under him and he fell down the entirety of the sand pile. His vision began to blear right until am white rounded shape came into view before he blacked out.

Waking up Naruto noticed how cold he was. Seeing a fire nearby he made his way over to it briefly acknowledging the figure who sat near it as he warmed his hands. He was slightly off put when a canteen was thrust into his hands, looking at the man who Naruto recognized as a brother for what he wanted.

"Take one large drink and two small ones, I was able to give you a small amount of water while you were unconscious but you're still severely dehydrated."

Doing as he was told still left him with a thirst to continue drinking but knew better, throwing up wouldn't help him the least. Facing his companion he spoke in a gravelly voice. "How did you find me?"

The man didn't even look up from the fire. "I knew the second you stepped into the desert and where you were. Though I didn't try following you in person until your energy levels had drop."

"You had been fallowing me before I collapsed. Why didn't you make contact?"

"I find that unless a person is defeated by this desert they don't take its dangers seriously. Like all things, it is usually only when once life is in danger of being snuffed out do we as humans truly learn a lesson. Even for people like us."

"So assuming I'll be set to move in a short while how long will it take to find my targets."

"For me, a day at the most. For you, well… it depends on how much you take from me young Naruto."

* * *

He read though scroll after scroll looking for anything that could sign of an unexpected threat to him and his people. He had spent years rallying up the assassins to the point where they were willing to take actions against a world that had forgotten them and he wouldn't wait for the world and their "valuable" shinobi to storm the castle. Too many plans were in motion for any force to interrupt him so he unleashed his hidden army. Slowly he was gaining force. It wasn't economical nor was it political, but slowly the powers of the world would turn once again onto those who disserved it. Those that had embraced and opened their bodies and souls to world. The Creed.

Reaching for another scroll he stopped as he felt a familiar person's energy just outside his domain. Deciding to greet his guest the man moved outside of the village he protected and past any of the defenses that had been set up to prevent wayward travelers. Coming to a clearing he visibly looked around to see no one in the area, but just because he couldn't see him didn't mean he didn't know he was there. "Just as we cannot hide from you, you cannot hope to hide from me."

"So you are still leader of this group. That disappoints me so." Looking behind him he spied a man dress in black with red clouds decorating his over-cloak. Red eyes with spinning tomes looked into and though the shadows of his coat into his own grey eyes.

"Oh… and why is that Uchiha Madara? I didn't think my living for this long would worry you in the slightest."

"You flatter yourself. A…friend, if you will, told me that two of the people in an organization I'm in had fallen to a man dressed in black. Quite frankly this news had me worried in my investment, no that's a lie. I worried that I'm being played with, and if there is anything an Uchiha hates most in this world it's having the wool pulled over their eyes."

"Ah yes a man like you would find such news disturbing, but tell me why you feel that I have cheated you. I'm keeping my promise. I've trained the boy into a master of our arts, and if I may say so a grand master soon enough if he continues to learn at the pace he does now, so your worries are baseless. Even right now he is off to kill again."

"That's good to know, because if I had learned that you were doing his missions on the off chance that it would better guarantee your chances of obtained it. I would be very upset." The Uchiha had moved closer to the man and was face to face with him. "And I don't think you could weather the storm that would be my anger."

"I dare say that it seems that you think you could best me in combat. While an interesting notion for sure you should be more worried about the youngster in my ranks who is aiming his final sights for you even if he doesn't know it yet."

Apparently satisfied for now Madara backed off and stood near the edge of the clearing. "You say you sent him on another mission. For who?"

"Deidara and Sasori."

The Uchiha looked confused for a second. "You did know that they are going after the one tail right? A partially unsealed beast.

"Of course."

"Why, if I may ask?"

"I felt that he should get the easy ones out of the way, understand?"

Madara only grunted and left the assassin to himself until he too moved to leave. Thinking only that Uchiha was a very unstable part of his plans.

* * *

The sight was a specialty of creed. The teachings passed down from ages long past describe it as a sort of sonar. You used the energy that you had flowing though you and pushed out a pulse of it around you, when it refracts of an object and returns to you, you then absorb it and with it a bit of knowledge about your surroundings. An assassin not worried about giving away his location can continually release said pulses continually without any thought on their part. Where the sight came in was that instead of releasing and absorbing the energy though the body one had to force the energy though the eye. Then when the energy came back with that bit of knowledge of what it came in contact with it would be pulled though the eye into the optic nerve and processed by the visual part of the brain as opposed to the memory section. Usually the technique was used to identify a possible enemy by obtaining any clue in a person being battle ready.

Slowly over time people realized that the technique could be changed with the right frame of mind to include the ability to compare the return pulse to what was know about the target to quickly confirm the targets location or keep track of them in a crowd. Then there were those with powers or the ability to control energy of any sort, and though time and learning the assassins learned to see said powers on a blue to white scale. The whiter an energy was the more powerful it was. All together to skill was very important for on the fly analyzing of a situation. The unequalled power of it made it the assassins who used it honor it by associating it with the creeds animal of choice. Eagle Vision.

Naruto had had a good grasp of the skill. It was expect of all field agents to have the ability to use it if they weren't moving. Unfortunately he needed to be better. His guide didn't want to travel near his targets for a reason that as of yet eluded him. Taking a deep breath to steady himself Naruto connected to the barren desert around him, only this time instead of letting it flow like he would for the gift he tugged on it until it flowed behind his eye and out. Feeling a small headache was the only warning before his world changed in front of him. The Yellow and dark gold coloring of the sand turned a cloudy grey while bright yellow bands of color slowly shifted across the sands. For the last hour he had been able to see the sight before him. He had asked what he was looking at but got nothing useful for an answer. Now he just needed to complete one last step, which was to take a step without losing the technique. In order to do this he had to force even more energy behind his eyes causing a small pressure to be created which would relieve itself as he diverted his own energy automatically to his legs as he picked up his foot and set it on the ground but returned immediately after he stopped moving. It was now just a matter of sending extra burst of energy as need for the amount of movement he did.

Turning around and facing the guide slash teacher he saw the sharp outlines of all his cloths surrounded by white light with small streams flowing though him and out of his own eyes. "Do you see it Naruto, the flow of the energy around you that you could always feel but now have given form and color to. More importantly can you see the flow of the desert and where it all leads too?"

Trying harder to focus on the slowly shifting yellow threads of energy all around him he figured the all moved in one direction. "Yes."

Standing up his brother came up to him and clasped his shoulder. "Then you should fine from this point on ward, but before you leave a word of warning if I may. Unlike with the gift where you are changing your aura, with eagle vision you are forcing a change in your eyes and your brain. If you force this change past what your body can withstand bad things happen."

"Like what?"

Instead of answering the man pulled his hood back letting Naruto see the thick leather wrapped around the mans forehead and eyes. Layer by layer the straps were removed until nothing prevented Naruto from seeing the answer to his question. Eye lids opened to reveal cloudy eyes that were dead to the world around them.

"When we force change of any sort it hardly ever ends up as we like it. Now go my brother, take the water with you, and let us see if you have learned well."

"Live long brother" and Naruto was gone from that cave into the baking sun.

* * *

It was an odd experience for Naruto. Common sense and any directional sense he had all made him want to take a path that didn't agree with what his eyes were telling him. He knew he was going in the right direction because the small cords of energy had grown in number and size until they filled his vision in a sea of yellow.

Seeing a cave nearby he went to rest for a while when he saw a small red dot on the horizon, flickering his vision back to normal he saw a brown bird flying in his general direction. Standing by he watched as the bird grew to gigantic proportions before landing in front of the cave. A lone figure jumped off the bird, and was stopped before the person could do anything else. "HEY, you're sure this is the place because if it isn't I'm not listening to your directions again, and you can walk back to Leader."

"I'm positive. There's too much chakra gathered here for jinchuriki not to be here."

"Whatever that's what you said last time, ya."

"Shut up and get ready!"

Instead of answering the blond man with his hair coving one of his eyes reached into his pouches and pulled out a clump of something. Smashing his hands together he released them to reveal a small fluttering bird. "I'm done on my end."

The hunched figure on the ground nodded and with a flourish of his black cape with red clouds and a large sudden explosion of smoke the near lifeless land was littered by people all armed to the teeth with weapons of every shape and size. "Send it Deidara."

"I love this part!" The small bird took off speeding like an arrow for the small cave and into the black depths within. Still in shook over the appearance of over a hundred people where there had been none Naruto was struck with an urge to understand what was going on here. Activating his eagle vision Naruto saw the two original figures giving off a golden glow indicating them as targets. The hundred figures surrounding his hunched over target were glowing an ominous red that warned of danger and death. These were all probable enemies. Looking at the collective sea of red he saw blue lines connecting them to his target who he realized was looking in his direction.

'Damn he must of sensed the technique, it really makes me stick out to those sensitive enough to the energies' A small twitch of the hand was all the warning Naruto got before a virtual battalion charged in his direction. Drawing his sword and dagger Naruto met the rush hoping to eventually inch his way closer to his target.

The first blow that came towards him came from a lance that was hastily dodged. Not even bothering to attack Naruto tried to get as close as the numerous bodies would let him. Eventually Naruto ran into a wall of enemies and struck, but what happen next shocked the trained warrior. Expecting the sound of ripping flesh and broken bones the sharp ping from his blade as it cut though the soft metal that ran inside the hollow humans. The moment Naruto focused on the down figure ten took its place.

Surprisingly handling the swarming enemies wasn't as hard as he first thought it would be. There was no teamwork between the figures and even though all the bodies were constantly in motion only a few actually attacked at a given moment. After the third body fell Naruto figured that they were all like this and would only stop attacking once he killed Sasori. Blocking an overhead chop of a large butcher's knife Naruto grabbed the figure and threw it at the next attacking enemy creating a whole in the group around him.

Taking the chance that presented itself Naruto sprinted forwarded jumping over blades that if he had reacted a second later would have taken some body part with it. After getting closer to Sasori the figures all stopped their attack and stood exactly where they had been previously, some missing arms and heads. Keeping his blade pointed at the disfigured person in front of him Naruto casually moved closer and closer to his goal.

"Tell me, who are you. What you are doing here?" Sasori asked Naruto.

"Although my name is not important I'm here to kill you."

"Better more worthy have tried. Do you really think you can?"

"It is not a matter if I can. I is a fact that you and your organization must be dealt with in the only way befitting, Death!" Charging again the bodies around him began to move as well but all stopped when the blond on the bird shouted.

"Ha, got him. He-He art sure is a bang!" A shockwave issued from the cave visually creating a shockwave of sand to rush past all the figures on the ground. Getting back up Naruto was greeted to a sight of a tidal wave of sand cresting above him and the pressure of hundreds of pounds of sand rushing past him.

Climbing out of the sand he saw the bird had taken off with Deidara still on it but not Sasori. Looking around he found the being jerking around uncoordinatedly, like it was having trouble moving at its joints. With a puff of smoke a new figure appeared behind the cloaked figure that looked much more human. Red hair and bare crested figure then drew back his hand and multiple puffs around Naruto signaled the disappearance of the puppets all around him including what had been Sasori. An opening appeared on the man's torso where the two scrolls which must have held his puppets were placed in.

A shaking in the ground made it hard to stay standing any longer and must have signaled danger of some sort. Sasori looked towards the sky. "Deidra now!"

"Hold ya horses." The giant bird dive bombed towards Sasori and pulled up just in time to fly parallel to the sand around to the man. A jump later and Sasori joined Deidra upon the flying bird. Seeing his target getting away he too jumped and grasped the bird's talons as it flew overhead.

Dangling off the bird for a second Naruto climbed the foot so that his feet rested against the bird's talon, Naruto gathered his wits. The bird was slowly circling around the small cave as if waiting for something. Knowing that both of his targets were just above him Naruto knew this was his best chance of a true assassination. Pulling our both hidden knifes Naruto stabbed one into the bird and then the next quickly using them for leverage and scaled the clay bird.

Naruto waited until the bird leveled of some before making his move. Getting on his feet he ran the three steps it took to close the distance with Sasori and Deidra. He stabbed with both hidden blades aimed at both men's chests. Before the strikes could connect two things happened. The bird shifted making him miss Deidra completely and Sasori turned to face him not that it helped him as the blade still sliced though his chest just nicking the sealed container that was his mind, soul, and charka. The body of Sasori stepped backwards off the flying bird, Naruto tried to remove his blade but the hardened body refused to release the blade and was pulled off with it.

Feeling the sickening rush that was weightlessness of free falling Naruto continued to try to release his blade from it's temporary sheath as he fell. Finally getting it loose he was forced away from the other falling object just as both figures slammed into the sand.

Getting sick of the feeling of sand engulfing him Naruto breached the layer that had settled on him. Grateful that the bird hadn't been flying any higher, Naruto proceeded to make his was to the depression that held Sasori. He must have been heavier than he looked because not only was the hole deeper than Naruto's own but showed signs of actual damage. Cracks crossed around his entire body leaving only the seal at his heart undamaged by the fall but still marred by his original stab. Standing over his opponent he watched as nothing changed about the man. The face was still in the same unemotional expression that it had been on since Naruto had seen his body. The only thing moving was the man's eyes which focused on him and his voice.

"You defeat me at acost. Do you really think you can escape the monster that we have awakened? It will kill you and me. You have done nothing of importance today. Even now the beast will emergence from its temporary slumber. This is all you're doing you fool."

As he was speaking the sand rose from the desert in front of them slowly the shape took form into a large animal like figure with one tail and glowing yellow eyes.

"Fuck this I'm out of here. Guess this proves which of us were right hey Sasori?" The bird flew away as fast as it could leaving Naruto and Sasori to their fate.

"**AWWWW… THE LITTLE BIRDDY FLEW AWAYYYY. I WANTED TO KILL IT. GUESS ILL JUST HAVE TO SMASH SOMETHING ELSE. GOOD THING I HAVE A NEW TOY."**

Slowly the golden eyes traveled and fall on Naruto. Fear gripped him to his very core. His hands wouldn't stop shaking. He was going to die.

Even more slowly, to Naruto, the eye continued on their path and landed on Sasori. A huge plum of sand erupted from under the human puppet and brought him in front of the huge face of one tailed demon. The demon opened it mouth wide and chomped down on the broken puppet. Killing him instantly.

"**YUCK, THIS IS DISCUSTING. THAT DID NOTHING FOR ME, AND I'M STILL HUNGRY TOO. NOW I HAVE TO FIND SOME OF THAT YUMMY BLOOD."**

With each step bringing forth a mini-quake the giant beast left the area. Several minutes later Naruto was sitting on the sand wide eyed and breathing deeply to calm himself. 'Why am I alive?'

Sorry if the chapter seems kind of lack luster but this really wasn't a favorite in terms of conception or actually writing the words. Same as last time any questions check the profile. Thanks for reading.


	4. Abstract Art

Path of the Assassin-a mostly Naruto Fanfiction

By

Gunslinger1555

I do not own Naruto or Assassins Creed

* * *

"Sasori of the Sand has fallen."

The master continued to read a thick tome that looked aged and worn. "Oh, and did he die by the blade."

"No not by blade, by monster."

Looking up at Naruto the master gave a small shake of his head before chuckling. "Had a small run in with the one tail I take it."

"More like I found myself on the platter waiting the feast to come. The beast looked right at me but did act, why."

"Naruto to understand that we would have to know about the origins of the great beasts, something that I regret to say not even all the scrolls in the creed speak of. They have always been around plain and simple. Throughout the ages many have come to some conclusions if you would like to hear them."

"Of course."

"Based on what we have gathered based on ancient ruins and our own observations we have concluded that the beasts are made up of pure energy. Large amount energy gathered and condensed until it reached levels so high that it becomes physical. Overtime these collections of energy began to pull on the life forces around it, forcing even more of the energies to become its own. Based on what kind energy they absorbed when it started forming it changed the outcome, giving the beast forms that looked like common animals and clear and distinct personalities. It is well known that the nine beast all act very differently. The one tail kills all living things in its path but stays clear of all towns and villages, where on the other end of the pendulum the nine tails was always aiming for towns of any size. Truth be told we of the creed have always kept an eye on the beasts even before we had any idea of some of their special characteristics."

"Characteristics?"

"Yes, because it is actually based off some of them that we as a whole have derived some of its own abilities. The god's gift we already had from generations of training and conditioning but it was when the current generation of assassins who had use of the eagle vision, did the creed truly take an acute interest in those wondering disasters. When one overlooked the obvious difference in power they noticed that the way the beast take in and release energy is very identical to how we use our energy. Drawing upon our surroundings and keeping it close to the surface just readily available for use, it is just like how they use it except for the fact they also keep a store of it tightly compressed in a core."

"So they use energy like we do why does that prevent them from attacking us?"

"Here's a little known fact Naruto. Not once in the entirety of recorded history, not once, has there ever been a conflict between two of the tailed beasts. While it can be said that the beast have some form of intelligence and that they chose not to attack each other but their actions in the wild prove that they are nowhere near that smart. Thus we are left with one conclusion; they are blind to those like themselves."

"Including us?"

"Yes for you see we of the creed have never been attacked by the beasts. So either they will not or cannot attack us. What's wrong you look like you don't believe me?"

"It's not that it just seems a little… impossible."

"Remember Naruto your lessons. The third saying of the creed is that nothing is impossible. Everything is permitted. Besides if it's the idea of energy becoming real then look no farther than our shinobi counterparts. Almost everyone who achieves any sort of notoriety have abilities that require them to convert their energy into a physical element. Never the less it is late any you need rest. We do not know where any of the your targets are, so take this time to center and better yourself."

"Yes master." Naruto turned to leave but was stopped before taking a second step towards the door.

"I almost forgot Naruto, since you have seen the one tail what form did it take, was it real or made up of a catalyst."

"It was made out of sand if that's what you want to know. Why?"

"It means that it is still sealed and not yet fully released."

"Like the two tailed girl? I didn't see anybody before the beast showed up."

"Yes that is because it is partially unsealed, meaning that the beast is always in control and in a form similar to what you saw. It was no secret that the method used to trap the beast was inefficient to the point of recklessness so it doesn't surprise me to know who is in control."

"What happened or is happening to the person."

"That poor soul is dead or might as well be."

Naruto left his masters study soon after.

* * *

Nagato eyed the man in front of him critically. There had to be a reason that the man was acting up now. One more member had fallen and now Madara volunteered to fill the slot recently vacated. There had to be a reason that after six years of inactivity that the man wanted to go out to the field. But for the life of him Nagato couldn't figure out the man.

"Why?"

The man just shrugged his shoulders before coolly replying. "Do I really need a reason to want a little excitement in my life?"

"No but then again I wasn't asking about your decision to go capture the monsters but on why you insist on wearing that mask when everyone has seen you already when you brought in the nine tails. It won't fool anyone important and definitely not Itachi."

Looking though the opening in his orange mask Madara spoke in a humered voice. "I'm not trying to hid myself from the lad."

"Then who are you hoping in deceiving." Getting no answer Nagato just continued. "I hope that this isn't a sign that our paths and ambitions are diverging."

"No, our paths are set as are our aspirations. I have no desire to leave now that things are finally getting interesting."

Wanting to continue to interrogate the man Nagato was stopped when his ring pulsed signifying the start of the meeting, shortly after three ghostly apparitions appeared into the room joining the two bickering figures and the silent servant. Noticing one person missing he turned to Itachi for answers.

"Itachi where is Kisame?"

"He mentioned going after our target alone, so I let him."

"You fool if he dies…"

"It will be from his own foolishness."

Growling at the cheek of the youngest member of Akatsuki he then turned to the rest of the group "Does anyone else have any important to report?"

"Does Sasori dying count as important, I don't think so but I figure I better ask ya." The blond of the group asked innocently.

A warning eye and sharp voice were his answer. "No it isn't, anything relating to the tailed beasts."

"We have a confirmation on the three tails. It's unfortunate that Kisame isn't present for the meeting as this would have been a perfect target for him and Itachi." Zetsu spoke.

"Why where is it?" Nagato asked

"Swimming in an oversized lake. Add to the fact that the beast is in it's element and has some gen-jutsu properties I figured they'd be the best team."

"How long can we hope it will stay there?"

"It's not well known for it stationary habits. End of the week tops."

'We don't have time to wait for Kisame to finish, nor can I send Itachi by himself with his health I still have a need for the boy and his dying will only hinder things.'

"O send me leader. Pretty please." Eyes turned to the visible form of Madara who was currently raising his hand and shaking it about like a child.

"HEY who the hell is this guy?"

Not waiting for Nagato Madara answered. "My name Tobi and it's very nice to meet you Mister Deidra Sir. Or should I say partner."

"What? Leader, don't tell me this weirdo is tell the truth. I just got rid of one pain in the ass now I get this guy."

'What are you up to Uchiha Madara, although the combination would be fruitful. The Sharingan would prevent any illusions and Deadra's clay would keep him out of the water. Fine then, I don't know what you want but we will play along.'

"Yes Deidra this is your new partner. You'll find that he is most worthy to be added to the group."

"Dammit."

"Yeeaaa, so Mister Leader Sir can me and my partner go on that mission?"

"Hey stop volunteering me for shit I don't want to do."

"That's ok I know you'll protect me Mister Deidra Sir."

"Yes, Deidra and Tobi you will be in charge of capturing the three tails before it leaves to parts unknown. Understood?"

"Yeah." Two voices spoke out, one in a depressed sigh the other in blind cheerfulness.

"Right and before we disband the meeting I have a word of warning to deliver. As you may have figured out based on three of our member absences Kakuzu and Hidan were both killed as well as Sasori. The warning I want you all to get is to watch out for a questionable figure dressed in black. It was that man who killed the zombie brothers as well as Sasori. Keep your eyes open. We cannot afford any more wasted deaths when we are so close to our goals. Dismissed."

The figures of Itachi and Deidra disappeared leaving only Zetsu who did not leave. "What is it Zetsu?"

"I didn't want to say this with everyone here but I figure you should know this. I have come to find out that the two tails is missing."

"What do you mean? Is Kumo hiding her?"

"No that's what is odd. I found out after spying on some of their shinobi and apparently they are leaving no stone unturned and still can't find it. Where ever it is even I can't find hind nor hair of the woman and she wasn't exactly in shape to go off on her own. Just figured you'd like to know." And with that Zetsu also left leaving just Nagato and Madara with Konon in the background.

"See it's just like I said before things are getting very interesting are they not Pein. Ha-ha-ha" With a swirling vortex centered around his exposed eye Madara left leaving no evidence of him ever being there.

* * *

Sharp raps against the door to his room forced Naruto into the realm of conciseness. Sitting up he looked up in time to see a servant walk into the room.

"The master has requested your presence sir." And left to give Naruto some privacy. Looking outside he saw that the moon was high and mostly full. Getting his stuff he made his way towards the library where his master was waiting for him.

"Good you have arrived quickly. We have spotted Deidra using his clay birds to fly towards where we know one of the tailed beasts are. I think this would be the perfect chance for you to take him out. The problem lies that at his current pace he will reach the beast by noon two days from now. It should take you for you to get there as well, hopefully with some time to spare but It mostly depends on you."

"You spoke of just Deidra, is he working by himself or is there someone else who is helping him."

The master shook his head. "We don't know, but it would be foolish to assume he is by himself so prepare for a second even though I can't give you any information to help you."

"That's fine, I just won't initiate a conflict with the unknown person if there is one. If what you say is true then I must be off."

"Yes and best of luck Naruto and may you travel on winged feet."

* * *

Trees reached towards the heavens from the completely flat ground underneath them. They swayed in the ever constant breeze that rustled their green leafs and made the quite woods as noisy as any human city. They all completely ignored the running figure on the ground. Underneath the protection of the trees he ran in the ever present shadows generated by the greedy tree's and their ever constant war for sunlight. The air had a slight dampness to it that carried with it the smells of the thick forest and the many large lakes that it used to support the wooden giants.

It had been little over two days from when he left his home and journeyed to these seemingly unending woods. He had done everything he could think of to try and shave some time off his trip. He hadn't made a true camp only lying across a welcoming tree so that he could rest his tired body with a short power nap only to get up and repeat the same thing all over again. Instead of a hardy protein based meal he ate what he could find laying on the ground or easily obtainable berries and fruit to sustain him. And with the beautifully flat ground not hindering him in the slightest it left no doubt that he would probably find the beast in the center of this maze of trees faster than his targets.

Slowing to a stop he lightly panted to collect his breath for the last time. If his guess was right then he didn't have much more to travel and it would be unwise to proceed if he was even the slightest bit weaker than he had to be. Taking the time to be more productive as he waited for his body to cool down he went though his inventory of battle items. Most importantly was his sword, pulling it from it's sheath he inspected the blade for any imperfects. Not that he had been expecting to find any but the blade was quite old and had been reforged twice in the years since Naruto had obtained it during his initial training before his master took him as his student. Determining the blade to be in good shape he sheathed it and moved on to the next important item on is internal list. The hidden blade and the designs for it were date back to before anyone could guess but improvements had been made to the base design. Where as it used to be based on a cord and string system the tiny compartments strapped under his forearm were motion and energy sensitive. With a quick flick of his wrist and a bit of energy the small blade shot out of its container and locked into place. With his hand flat the blade extended beyond his middle finger by a good inch or two but with his hand closed it was long enough to penetrate though a person's neck. The blade itself was well polished and sharp with small crests applied that supposedly made the blade strong enough to block an axe but Naruto didn't want to test that theory. Check his other blade and finding both in mint condition he sent another subtle amount of energy and the mechanisms retracted the blades into their hiding spots. God he was glad that he had this model. Some of the older bunch still preferred the old style ones that required the ring finger to be amputated to make room for the blade as the fist had to be closed and level with the blade to pull a string that unleashed the blade. He also had his dagger whichi he kept perfectly sharp, and finally ending his list of offensive weapons were numerous knifes small enough and balanced enough to be thrown with perfect procession and ease.

He also held a number of items for his protection. He wore a belt that held small compartments to hold numerous items such as smoke bombs and metal wires. He wore small metal plates that covered his heart form front and back attacks connected by leather straps that wrapped around his body. He also wore the coat of an assassin made up of such a thick strong material only piercing weapons would have a chance of puncturing though it. Deciding he had wasted enough time and that he was prepared for anything he headed forward towards where a strong gathering of energy was glaring at his senses.

Climbing a tree and jumping from branch to branch he found himself with a great view of a large lake almost the size of a city. Nothing seemed to draw his attention but he knew something was lying in wait under the surprisingly deep water. All it took was time and he would find his target.

Sure enough a shadow sped over lake. Looking towards the sky he saw the same bird he had seen in Wind Country circling the lake. Taking a closer look he saw two figures both looking down towards the lake one clearly in control of the operation funny considering that based off the man coward like actions before you wouldn't think him a leader. After a while one of the figures jumped off the flying bird and landed almost gracefully on the water with little to no ripple. The figure seemed to look around a little bit before looking back up at his flying partner.

"HEY MISTER DEIDRA SIR WHAT ARE WE DOING AGAIN?" The blond man leaned over the his creation and screamed back.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN? I JUST GOT DONE TELLING YOU."

The masked man on the water scratched the back of his head in an embarrassed manner. "I FORGOT."

"YOU FORGOT!" the man's voice quickly took on an increasingly angry vibe. "KNOW WHAT JUST STAND THERE AND DON'T MOVE AT ALL GOT THAT."

"YES SIR!" The man gave a salute to his superior.

"Good boy Tobi." Muttered Deidra as he reached into his only bag of waterproof clay, quickly smashing the small amount in-between his hands he charged the clay and shaped it to the exact proportions and shape of a large fish. Throwing it overboard he concentrated on a spot in the bottom of the lake where that colossal energy was laying dormant. It was the same plan as with the one tail only this time the large amount of the plan relied on him and his more explosive clay. Wake up the beast with a small explosion the rain down the punishment. This was why he loved his art. So versatile and beautiful but also deadly, what an awesome combination. What a blast.

The small explosion caused the shores of the lake to tremble and the water to agitate but had done nothing visibly extensive. At least until a dark shape grew under the center of the lake. Growing and growing until it took up more than a quarter of the mass of water until with one great burst of water the three tails emerged spraying water everywhere.

Even knowing that the beast wasn't a direct threat to his well being Naruto was still struck with a sense of uneasy being so close to the monstrous being. Turtle in shape it had a great shell that extended well past the edge of its two large front legs and hooked in a menacing manner. Connected to the shell were three flat tails that moved like scarves in the wind but with sharp ends that no man would want to get in the way of. The beast had no back limbs to speak of but the two muscular arms which supported the beasts weights seemed dangerous in its own rights with sharp spines formed at every possible angle. Its head was practically invisible in the shadows of its own shell that wrapped around the body part but the yellow glow of its one eye showed only the great power that the beast had. With a great roar it charged towards the masked figure that didn't look like he was willing to move a muscle.

The man must not have had a self-preservation bone in his body because even when one of the flat ends of the strong limbs hung over his head he still didn't move. Not even when the beast slammed the limb down and caused and impact that created a medium sized tidal wave. Nothing seemed to move as the Akatsuki agent was killed right in front of his partner. Or so everyone thought.

"OH NO, I broke Mr. Deidra's rule and ruined the plan." Looking behind the beast was the orange masked man looking as if nothing had happened and he had been standing there. The beast turned around at the sound and charged again only this time Tobi ran away from it. "HELP ME MR. DEIDRA."

"God this guy is so annoying." Reaching into one of his packs he grabbed a large amount of clay formed them into an army of animals and unleashed them at the beast. The explosions rocked the waters and shook the trees that Naruto was laying low in as he watched the two battle the beast. As soon as the dust clouds and stem cleared the beast unleashed another howl this one louder than ever that blasted the surrounding water away from it in a high energy blast. The Tobi managed to elude any damage somehow but Deidra had to do some quick flying to avoid the blast.

This masked figure had to have been doing something so while he somehow got away from every attack aimed at him, including stray exploding clay, Naruto took a closer look. With the beast displacing so much energy there should be no chance that the two fighting combatants would register a tiny pulse from him. Activating Eagle vision he saw the blinding white light coming from the beast itself. Trying to focus on the two spots of light other than the force of nature he first saw the golden glow given off by the flying man unleashing small red animals from his hands where most of his energy was gathered second to his chest. Finding the masked man proved harder as he was constantly moving and right as he would get a good look at him he disappeared from sight leaving only small wakes in the direction he was heading. 'What is he doing, his body is traveling the distance it just is at one point then the next leaving only a small trail of energy I don't get it.' As he turned off his eagle vision he saw the man with the mask stop for a second and tilt his head as if listening for something before nodding to himself and dodging the great beast.

In the sky Deidra was getting progressively angrier at the overgrown turtle. He had tossed so much of his average clay at it and nothing was getting done. The beast didn't even look injured in the slightest. Deciding to go all out he shouted at Tobi as he reached into a special pouch and pulled out as much high grade clay as possible. "TOBI, MAKE SURE IT STAYS ON YOU GOT IT." After finishing giving the order he forced as much chakra into the clay as he could and was just about to shape it with his most powerful mouth when he noticed something odd. Tobi wasn't moving any more just looking up at him as was the beast. "WHAT THE…" Deidra didn't get any further as the beast swiped all three tails in his direction easily dragging him and the clay figure under water and was eject when the beast generated an extremely large wave with another powerful roar that sent Deidra flying into the woods. Naruto seeing a possibly weak enemy left to finish the clay wielder leaving the masked man and the three tails.

Jumping from tree to tree he saw the blond haired man getting up from the ground ranting up a storm. "I'm going to kill…I'm going to FUCKING KILL HIM. Getting me and my beautiful clay all wet. He had better hope he has enough money on his corpse after I kill him because this shit isn't cheap and he ruined a whole batch." The man continued to mumble to himself as he made his way back towards the beast getting closer to Naruto's range.

'There!" And with a push and small burst of energy he jumped from his perch over the blond man in an arc that was guaranteed success. The hidden blade was less than an arm length away before Deidra caught his arm and rolled with Naruto's jump. Naruto felt a kick to his gut and was thrown over his target and on to his back. Both men quickly got back on their feet before facing each other.

"Well what do we have here? The same person who ruined my last mission, though I suppose I owe you a thank you for killing that prick Sasori. You saved me the trouble of doing it myself."

"How did you know where I was?"

"Oh, well seeing as I'm about to kill you I'll tell you. You see, I'm not like the others who have come to believe that they are invincible. I live by example, my clays to be exact temporary and beautiful. Something that shouldn't but can be destroyed by anyone's hands. Knowing you can be killed makes you great at looking over your shoulder into shadows."

"So luck more or less."

"Yeah, that's right, laugh it up because like I said I'm going to kill YOU." Placing his hand in front of him the twin mouths open up and unleash a barrage of small flying creatures that flew as fast as any thrown weapon. Draw his sword and dagger he slashed though all of the attacking clay leaving them to pile up on the ground around him. As the last one was slashed in half Naruto sprinted forward and went for a stab that was blocked with a kunai at the last minute. Moving with the impact he terwarld on his toe and went for an overhead slash that was predictably caught with both the man's hands. Seeing the opportunity for a classic assassin killing move he took it. He kicked at Deidra's evenly spaced legs making the man fall to his knees. Naruto then when for the kill, he sliced at an angle diagonally though the man's body. Unfortunately the man had bent backwards so that he didn't get the shoulder but still had his blade a good inch into the man's upper torso. Naruto would feel elated at the result if the man wasn't grinning. He soon found out why.

The left side of the man's clock fell off his should letting Naruto see the giant mouth that was gripping his blade with it's teeth. Looking at the man he was surprised to see he had both hands open and pointing towards him. "Art is a bang, Ya." And unleashed an explosion that sent Naruto back to where he had begun. He stood up and glared at the man who was grinning even wider.

"You couldn't have fallen in a worse spot my enemy." Naruto looked around and saw all the shards of clay from the man's previous attack and it gave him a sinking feeling in his gut. "Boom!" Taking a quick hop back wasn't enough to totally prevent the attack form hitting him. There must have been more explosives in there than he could have guessed as the flames burnt hot enough to nip at the edges of his coat. The real problem was the shrapnel that the explosion kicked up and pelted him with rocks the size of scrolls at a high velocity. He laid there stunned for a second before climbing to his feet. Luckily none of the rocks had knocked him out.

Deidra laughed at the explosion. Even though the figures weren't perfect they still held as much energy as he had originally put in them creating a hole that was still spewing out great clouds of grey smoke. It was as he looked inside the hole and couldn't see his enemy that he realized his mistake and looked up to see a shadow emerge from the smoke and land on him. Both hands caught the man's forearm that a blade was strapped to. Even with all his might he couldn't push the man back, he had too much leverage. It was even more surprising when a second blade emerged from the assailants other hand and slammed it into his stomach making him gasp and pain and loss strength in his arms and next saw nothing.

He rolled onto his back gasping for air. Even if he had no cuts on his body he was sure to have huge bruises and possible fractures. He knew he had to get up and leave before something else happened. Standing up he grabbed his sword and sheathed it. He was just about to leave before he heard clapping from behind him. Turning around he saw the orange masked man clapping.

"Very good young assassin, I dare say that you half impress me."

"Who are you?"

"Now that would be telling. That takes all the fun out of it you know seeing as I already told you my name once."

'What?' "Talk sense, we have never met." Naruto had been griping his sword from the first moment he saw the figure. He was action so different than before.

"If you truly believe that then it must be true, but then again how do you know you don't know me when you don't even know yourself. But that is neither here nor there and I believe you have a mission to complete."

Naruto took a step back from the man. He was sending all kinds of weird vibes that made Naruto's fear escape from that little place all warriors caged it to be dealt with later. If he hadn't been gripping his sword his hand would be shaking all he wanted to do was leave.

The man kept moving closer and closer to him. "You can't be thinking about leaving this little get together. You can't be thinking I'll let you."

That flipped a switch in Naruto's mind. He had seen how the man seemed to disappear and reappear where ever he wanted and there was no way he could out run this target. At the same time he hadn't seen the man attack the three tails so the man was probably a defensive fighter. Drawing his sword he ran the short distance between the two. Holding nothing back he slashed at the man only to meet the one thing he didn't expect, nothing. His overextended body moved though the man like he wasn't even there. Getting up he tried again only for the same result to occur. He stood there dumbfounded. How do you kill someone who you can't even touch. The man's head been turned towards him for the two attempts but was now turned to the ground.

"Is that it? Is this what I have waited seven years for… for this disappointment?" Out of nowhere a fist came and smashed against Naruto's skull. Spots of light danced around his vision even as the man picked him up by his jacket. "Is that all you can do. It appears I was wrong about you Naruto Uzumaki, so very wrong indeed."

Pein erupted from everywhere as yet another hit sent him smacking into a tree and fall down on his ass with his back against the tree. His chest hurt so bad, he must have broken something. Looking up he saw the figure shaking his head. "No you just didn't understand what you were up against. So listen well Naruto Uzumaki. I have lived this past few years on the off chance you would provide me with some challenge to me when we met up again. I'm going to give you one last chance. Assuming you survive this of course."

Almost faster than he could track the man was in front of him with his arm reared back. Naruto moved to place his blade to protect him but it did him absolutely no good as the arm went though it but quite physically impaled it into his gut. Feeling the blood rise in his throat he looked into the man's mask which was now close enough to see the spinning red eye and black figures on it. It froze him to his very soul as he remembered those eyes. They haunted his dreams even though he never had a face to go with them. Pulling the hand from the blond the man used the same hand to move his mask off to the side to show the youth his face.

"My name is Madara Uchiha, and you are Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze and the next time we meet you had best be a lot stronger than me otherwise I'll kill you and everything you think you care for. Until next time." Madara left Naruto slumped over as he was dead to the world. He made the short trip to lake where he had defeated the dumb beast that was the three tails and jumped on it's back. A rush of chakra later both he and the monster was gone.

In the forest Naruto was left along to bleed out.

* * *

Chirping bird…Laughter…An old man.

"I'm so proud of you Naruto."

* * *

Thanks for reading. Same as always… you should know the drill by know if you have questions.


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